The Fox Spirit
by PokoAmane
Summary: Zuko, Prince of the Fire Nation, has ambitions of returning home and under his father's good gracious. Until one day, he accidentally releases a kyuubi, a legendary fox with nine tails who was sealed inside a painting. He then suffers a life-threatening fall and is only saved by the kyuubi. Zuko x OC
1. Chapter 1: The Painting

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or its characters, Michael Dante DiMartino Bryan Konietzko do!

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_It was a bright and early morning. The sun was high in the sky and the breeze that flew by was warm and gentle, caressing the skin lightly which would bring a shiver serenity to whoever it graced that was outside. The Fire Nation was an usual busy city, filled with people of high class-especially in its capital. The capital held the most prosperous and elegant people. After all, The Fire Nation palace resided in it._

_The Royal Family was enjoying their day as they did any other. Just recently, Prince Iroh had returned to the Fire Nation palace to bring good news on his steps of conquering the city of Ba Sing Se. His father, the current Fire Lord, was proud of his eldest sons achievements. He never ceased to amaze him, which made everything more apparent of which son he had favored._

_Within the royal family was a soon-to-be prince, baring a rather curious yet cautious outlook on life. His feet was running down the palace hall, excited to hear how his uncle had came back home, free of wounds. Another person that returned was his cousin, Lu Ten, and he couldn't wait to hear about their stories of being in the Earth Kingdom._

_"Uncle Iroh!" The young child called out to the older man, who had turned away from speaking the young boy's mother, Lady Ursa, and turned to greet his nephew with a large smile. "I'm glad to see you back home!"_

_Iroh had gave out a hearty laugh and picked up the eight-year-old, giving him a quick embrace before setting him down to his feet. "You've grown some, young Zuko."_

_"It hasn't been that long since you left, hasn't it?" Ursa, the beautiful Fire Nation woman had said as she had then looked over to her son, smiling at his happy expression he wore. "But Zuko is growing every day, isn't he?" Her slender hand had then placed themselves on his head. "My first child, my little boy..." Her voice became soft and nostalgic, remembering when he was first born and how she cradled him in his arms._

_"Yes, he's a growing boy. He's grown even more rapidly because of the great parents he has." Iroh complimented her, which only caused the woman's smile to become more radiant._

_"Thank you, Iroh. Lu Ten is also a fine example of great parenting. I bet Sun would've loved how Lu Ten became the man he is today." She spoke of Iroh's late wife, the man smiling as he had remembered his wife that passed away years ago._

_He had closed his eyes briefly before opening them again, "Sun would've been extremely proud of him, but she wouldn't be proud how I'm getting this gut of mine. I must cut back!" He had patted his stomach, all three of them laughing. "Oh, which reminds me, while I was away..." Iroh had searched his person, searching for something. "I found an ancient box that I couldn't open and I know how much you love, olden period things so I..."_

_"Dad," all of them had turned right to see Lu Ten, "looking for this?" He had held the box in front of him and walked towards his aunt. "Yes, we found this in a small village in the Earth Kingdom. The people were giving things away since they needed money."_

_Ursa had gently took the box that Lu Ten handed her, her amber pupils scanning over the box. "Do you either of you know what's inside?"_

_"No, but we were told something important is inside of it." Iroh explained, nodding as he had recalled the man's words. "We didn't get a key but we figured an expert could find out how to open it."_

_"That makes it even more alluring." Ursa had cooed as her hand had gently brushed against the old oak box, feeling the crafty texture of it. "I wonder what's inside..."_

_Zuko had looked from his mother and towards the box in her hands, "What if there's a map, like, a treasure map?"_

_"That would be interesting." Iroh had nodded, "Rare treasure would be fun to find."_

_"We'll be like the pirates!" Zuko said excitedly._

_Lu Ten had chuckled. "Being a pirate does sound fun~"_

_"Well, we'll never know until we open it." His mother said, nodding. "Thank you for the lovely gift, Iroh." She had thanked him before trailing her eyes back to the mysterious box._

_Zuko's eyes had lingered on the box for some time, his imagination running wild at the possibilities of all that could be inside. He even wondered just how quickly his mother would get the box open so he didn't have to grow impatient, even though he was starting to at this very moment._

_"Is my father in the throne room?" Iroh asked Ursa, Zuko's eyes shifting from the mysterious box and to his mother._

_The woman gave a firm nod, "Yes. He should be finishing up a meeting with an official about the Earth Kingdom colonies."_

_"Ah, I see." He had then ruffled Zuko's hair and gave Ursa a polite bow, "I'll be on my way then. Lu Ten, get some rest." He had told his son, who had rolled his eyes._

_"Dad," he smiled, "I'm fine."_

_Iroh had smiled in returned before walking down the palace corridor. "Mom, so when are you gonna get the box open?" asked Zuko, pointing at the objet in her hand. "I really can't wait to find out what's inside."_

_His parent had chuckled at his obvious enthusiasm, "I'll ask one of the servants to look for old keys before I get a professional."_

_Zuko had pouted slightly, "But when?"_

_"Soon, Zuko. Soon." She had said before walking down the hall, leaving Zuko and Lu Ten._

_"I'm curious too," Lu Ten said to Zuko, "I mean the guy said something valuable was in it. But what could it be...?"_

_The child had puffed up his cheeks in irritation, wondering the same._

** o**

"Prince Zuko," Iroh said through the iron door as his nephew laid on the large bed in his cabin. "The crew need to stop for supplies, much needed ones."

The young prince, now sixteen years of age, had opened his eyes halfway and looked towards the closed door. He wonder why his uncle didn't' simply open it but he then remembered he locked it so he wouldn't be disturbed. "Fine. As long as we aren't stopping so you can shop."

A rather nervous laugh erupted from his uncle's throat, which made him groan slightly since he knew that was the first thing his uncle thought about doing. "Hurry up so we can make it towards the South Pole."

"Right." He had then walked away from the door and down the ship's hall. Zuko had slowly sat up from his bed and walked towards his desk. His eyes had scanned over the drawers of his desk and then went to the third drawer. He pulled it back, revealing that box Iroh had brought his mother.

When his mother had suddenly disappeared from the castle, his father had all her things burned because he said it would be easier for them ( Zuko and Azula ) in forgetting her. Zuko would never forget his mother, and he knew Azula only pretended to forget her.

He had placed the box on his desk and examined the keyhole, wondering what kind of key could possibly fit.

The prince had thought about for a few minutes longer, wondering if he could find a possibly key in the currently location they were at. They had to return to outer areas of the Earth Kingdom for supplies since there wasn't much of anything in the South Pole.

With a long sigh, he had picked up the stubborn box against and looked at the keyhole once more. What if a key to the box wasn't even made anymore? What if it had a specific key and it was lost and never meant to be found? Even at the age of sixteen, it still intrigued him even though he always convinced himself that he had other matters that were more important.

He had placed the box back down atop of the desk and then decided that picking at the lock didn't seem like a bad idea. He had taken a thin knife from the inside of his boot, taking the sharp tip and placing it in the keyhole. He had moved it around, his eyes intently staring at it until he had heard a clicking sound. His eyes had widened as the chest had opened some.

There was a knock on his cabin door again, his eyes leaving the chest and looking towards the door. "Prince Zuko, is there anything you would like in the market? General Iroh asked me to ask you."

The prince had looked back at the box and then closed his eyes. "No, I don't want anything." He answered.

"Mm." The henchman hummed in reply before leaving.

Zuko had opened the chest and looked to see there was an old painting inside. On the picture was an elderly woman and beside her, it looked to be a... dog? "That's it?" Zuko was astonished that all his years of curiosity, it was just this old painting. The art style was old, centuries old, and he figured that his mother probably would've loved it. But to him, this was just a disappointment. "All these years... for this."

He had walked away from the chest and rubbed his forehead, he felt annoyed. This wasn't worth the curiosity.

"Hey," he had looked over his shoulder in search for the sudden voice. "Can you hear me?"

"Who are you!? Who's there?!" Spinning around, he continued to look for the voice. He couldn't pinpoint the location, and he didn't see anyone at the window.

"Good, you can hear me well." His eyes then looked towards the old painting, his brows knitting together as he wasn't sure to believe if the voice was coming from the painting.

Growing frustrated, he walked towards the painting and lifted it up. "Who are you? Where are you coming from?"

"Wait a minute!" The voice said, "Just listen to me."

He decided to hold back his questions even though he felt like he had no reason to. He was Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation, why should he listen to someone else? Especially someone who did not give them the information he inquired. "Ah, so you're a young guy." His eyes looked around briefly. "You're kind of cute."

His face had flushed red, "Get onto the point. What did you want to tell me or is that what you wanted to tell me? You still didn't tell me who you are."

"Why tell you if you won't be able to see me?" The voice questioned, "I'm amazed you can hear me." This was getting stranger. "You see the painting in front of you,"

Zuko had looked at the painting, now gathering that this painting was probably cursed. How did someone know there was a painting in here?

"we were told something important is inside of it."

He remembered his uncle's words. "What about it? Is that how you're speaking to me?"

"I can answer that if you do something for me." His eyes had narrowed. "The fox doesn't have a tail. Draw a tail. 9 tails."

"And what happens if I do that? It's a old painting, I wouldn't want to ruin it." Zuko said, now folding his arms as she had set his jaw. "What do I get out of doing what you say?"

The stranger had hummed softly. "Well, I'm a person of a lot of power. If you do this for me, then I'll do something for you." They bargained.

"Even capturing the Avatar?" He questioned.

"Capturing... the avatar?" They had sounded confused and also hesitant, "Why would you want to capture the Avatar?"

"I'll explain if you agree." He closed his eyes briefly, opening them again as he had looked at the painting. "I'm assuming you're trapped in the painting and drawing these nine tails will free you."

They had hummed again, "You got me." They sighed softly, "If I agree then you'll release me?"

"That's the deal." Zuko had said, "And if I ask for other things in regards for capturing the avatar, you'll do them?"

"I agreed to one thing. The least you can do is release me." He had picked up a writing brush and dipped into the ink on his desk. Hesitantly but carefully, he had draw nine tails on the painting.

Thunder had cracked loudly in the air, his eyes looking away and then towards the small, circular glass window of his cabin. He saw there was heavy rain and strong flashes of thunder and lightning.

He looked around and then walked back towards the painting to see that the fox on the painting was gone. His eyes had widened as he had then opened the door, looking down the corridors to see henchman running around.

The ship had rocked back and forth from the storm, the prince had lost balanced, and slid down the hall. He desperately placed his hands on the wall to gain a steady footing. He had made his way towards the deck to see the henchmen struggling as they were still at the docks.

"The storm came from nowhere!" One henchmen had said.

"Where is my uncle?" He had questioned.

"General Iroh is probably still in the market." A henchman answered.

Zuko had narrowed his eyes and then looked over the rail, "I'm going to go find him."

He had then mad his way towards the market after going to down the gangplank. He had ran through the small forest that led to the village.

Due to how dark it was and the heavy rain, he could barely make out anything. He even left the path and went down a hill, but due to the ground become wet from the rain, it became mud and he had slid down. He rolled down the hill and hit a large rock before hitting a flat area but by then he was already unconscious. "Ugh..."

From a short distance, bare feet had made their way towards the injured prince.


	2. Chapter 2: The Fox Bead and the Avatar

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or its characters, Michael Dante DiMartino Bryan Konietzko do!

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"Hey!" Lifting a finger, they had poked the teenager's face. "Hey!" The expression had changed to subtle worry, "Are you dead?" So instead, they had grabbed both of his cheeks and lightly pulled them. Their hands immediately fled when he began to groan, his eyes still closed. He had coughed slightly while their eyes had looked towards the way they were laying. "You got hurt a lot, huh?" A few minutes of silence had passed, "Since you drew the tails... I won't let you die."

Their had gently touched his face, "I save him, he'll be useful to me. After all, I did agree on helping him catch the Avatar." They had nodded before lowering their face inches away from his, her lips hovering over his own as a blue light had emitted and a small bead of light had left her lips and went into his.

In the moonlight, nine white tails with an ethereal blue light surrounding them had waved brightly.

**o**

Zuko had slowly opened his eyes, his vision now clearing from a blur as he had realized that he was in a building. He had immediately sat up from the futon, looking around to see that he was in a hut. "Where am I?" He had then looked down towards his body, "I took a heavy fall but... I feel fine."

"You're awake?" He had looked up to see a young girl, possibly the same age as him. Her hair was long and black, ending towards her waist. Her eyes were Fire Nation in color and close-set in shape, but a bright and golden shade of vanilla. She had a heart shaped face with high cheekbones and her body was a small frame yet still hourglass. Her lips were a bright shade of red and pouty, surprisingly full. Her skin was slightly pale, not too pale but not too much color. Just staring at her made him feel uneasy. "There was a boar-q-pine was trying to eat you. So I put you in here so it wouldn't. You're fine now."

Her eyes had looked back over towards him, a smile on her face. "W-Whoa are you?" He questioned, dumbfounded.

"You can come out-" She nodded her head but then looked confused as he asked her who she was, "It's me. You don't remember? You don't remember talking to me yesterday?"

His brows had knitted together, "When...?"

A soft chuckle had erupted from her throat, "You're even cuter in the sunlight."

The overwhelming sense of embarrassment that ensued from her words caused his brow to dampen profusely, pale cheekbones spattering with dark scarlet stains.

_"Ah, so you're a young guy."_

_"You're kind of cute."_

He had then remembered, his lips slightly parting as his eyes had widened. "Y-You're from the painting?!" He was completely stunned. "B-But you're supposed to be a fox! You're a person?!"

"Do I really look like one?!" She had asked happily, her hands pressing to her face as she kept her gaze heavily on him.

Zuko had paid no mind and then gotten up from the futon, "Where am I? Where's my ship? Uncle!"

Her head had slightly tilted to the side, "Uncle? Oh! That old man." She had raised a finger, remembering the kind old man that she had met earlier who had helped her place him on the futon. "Mm, he went to go get soup!" She nodded.

With a sigh of relief, he had pressed his hand to his chest. "I know I fell yesterday... but why do I feel fine?"

She had walked over to him, pointing to his chest. "The reason why you don't feel hurt right now is because of what I put here." She had slipped her hand under the prince's shirt, the prince was startled as she had felt his bare chest and rubbed in a circle. "I put my fox bead here."

"W-What are you doing and what are you talking about?!" He had forcibly taken her hands from out of his shirt and threw them to the side.

The girl had nod, "My fox bea-"

"Nephew!" Both of them had turned to look towards Iroh, who had walked over and hugged his nephew. "I was worried."

Zuko had sighed as he had broken himself from his uncle's embrace. "I'm fine."

He had looked back towards the girl, who had looked at him inquisitively. "I see. This girl said she took care of you because you two had an agreement."

His nephew had sighed and placed his hand on his head. He wasn't sure if Iroh would believe the story of the painting or would be too happy about it. He halfway didn't want to believe it himself, wanting to convince himself that the girl stowed away on his ship and acted like she was from the painting like a prank.

"We did!" She nodded, "He said he would free-" Zuko clamped his hand over her mouth, her eyes big as she had looked at him.

"She said she knows where the Avatar is and would help me capture him." He quickly explained, "And so she'll be coming with us."

Iroh looked surprised and then confused, "But how?"

"There's no time to explain. Let's head back to the ship and head back towards the South Pole." He kept his hand over her mouth and led her towards the Fire Nation ship. Iroh had looked at the two skeptically but let his smile stay on his face.

As soon as they had reached the harbor, the girl had immediately fought Zuko's grasp. "No! I am not going anywhere near water!" She had elbowed him in the stomach and turned around, attempting to run away.

Zuko had hunched over, his hand on his stomach. "G-Get back here! We have an agreement!"

"W-We didn't agree about water!" She had belted, shaking her head furiously. "I don't like water!"

He groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose as he was now able to stand up straight. "We made this agreement on the sh-" He stopped himself, remembering his uncle was there.

Iroh had looked to his nephew, shifting his gaze from the peculiar girl. "She was on the ship, Prince Zuko?"

With a nod of her head, she attempted to explain. "Yea! We were on-"

"No, she wasn't!" Zuko interrupted, "It's a long story. Just get on the ship." He sighed as he had said to her.

Again, she had shaken her head. "No."

"Get. On. The. Ship." His patience with her was thinning. "If you don't get on the ship, I'll just leave you here and find the Avatar on my own."

Her brows had furrowed, "You can't do that! I saved your life wit-"

"Then get on the ship." He interrupted again, his face scrunched up to reveal his frustration and lack of patience.

Her eyes had then looked down to her feet, her fingers fiddling together. "Prince Zuko, please be easy on her. She obviously has a fear of the ocean." Iroh tried to reason, "We can assure that you'll be safe, young lady. No harm. And you can stay in the cabin if it troubles you to see it."

There was still uneasiness in her expression, and her eyes kept looking at the prince with uncertainty and fear. His gaze was still angry, and still lacked patience. "...Fine." She nodded.

The bowsprit had let out the gangplank, allowing them to walk up. Immediately, the girl had latched onto Zuko's arm. He had attempted to pull it away but her grip was entirely too strong. "Will you let go of me?!"

"I'm scared and you have to take responsibility!" She said, "I'm the reason why you're still alive."

His brow had raised at her words, "What do you mean?"

"I tried to tell-"

"Prince Zuko!" Both of them had looked up towards the henchmen, "Are you alright?"

The prince sighed and nodded, "I'm fine." He continued to walk forward, the fox keeping her arms latching onto his right arm.

Zuko had glanced at her and then looked ahead, a sigh escaping him as his left hand had pinched the bridge of his nose. He was regretting opening that chest more-so than before.

"Where's the room?" His eyes had locked-on to her, he set his jaw for a few seconds and then sighed.

"I'm taking you there. You'll stay there and then we'll discuss the whereabouts of the Avatar and about how you gave me something." He responded in which she nodded understandingly. When they had reached the prince's cabin, he had opened the door and lightly shoved her inside. "But before that, I'll have to speak to my men on the course we're taking."

She nodded again as he opened the door and had left. "Wow, I never been on a ship before." She had said as she had scoped out the relatively large room. "I feel really uncomfortable though..." The fox mumbled as she spoke to herself.

Walking towards his desk, she had glanced at the map that was laid out in front of it. She had seen notes that she figured the prince had wrote to possibly pinpoint the location of the Avatar. "Why is he looking for the Avatar anyway? Why would someone want to capture them? Does he want to kill the Avatar?" A series of questions had popped up in her mind as her fingers had lightly grazed over the map. "Mm, it's been about four-hundred years since I've been trapped... Everything seems really different."

She nodded, "Avatar Yangchen was the Avatar the last time I was in the physical world." She had sighed as she had looked around. "To believe I counted all these years Granny put me away..."

The door had opened, Zuko had entered and closed the door behind him. She had then smiled, "Let's get this straight." He folded his arms as she stood in the middle of the room, her hands folded in front of her. "You're a nine tails, a kyuubi."

"Mhm." She nodded. "I've been called other names; Kyuubi, Gumiho, Huli jing... Oh, but don't think I'll eat your heart and liver. I won't do that!" She waved her hands dismissively to that idea. "I don't eat humans."

It was odd since he was about to ask her that due to the mythical stories about Kyuubi, but he nodded seeing as though she denied it even though he couldn't exactly trust her. "Why were you trapped in the painting?"

"Granny Mameha put me in there," She had sighed as she had looked down at her feet, her bottom lip had stuck out in a pout. "There were vicious rumors that I ate livers and hearts of men and so she put me away."

"In that painting?" He questioned.

She answered with a nod, "Mhm."

"Why did they make up the rumors?" He had asked.

Her eyes had then looked from her feet and then up to him, to make sure he saw her sincerity. "I was supposed to get married and as I was waiting for a groom, they had spread the rumors. I'm not sure why."

"You didn't do anything to provoke them?" Zuko asked as she had shaken her head, "Anyway, what is this thing you gave me."

"Oh! My fox bead!" She had walked over towards him and placed her hand back on his chest, he had met her hand as she had rubbed in small circles with a large smile on her face. "It's very precious to me. It'll heal you since you were going to die."

His hand had gripped her wrist, she had looked up at him as he had placed her hand off his chest. "Alright. Now, how are you going to help me find the Avatar?"

"Mm..." She had hummed, "Seeing that I'm powerful, I can see them and hear them." She nodded.

He had looked confused, "See them and hear them?"

She nodded, "Kyuubi gain the abilities to see and hear anything happening anywhere in the world. So, whatever you want me to see or hear then I can."

"Your powers are that great?" Zuko questioned, astonished.

A confident smile had appeared on her face, "Mhm!" She nodded.

A large amount of confidence had surged through the prince, feeling lie he had made the best choice after all. "I have nothing for you to smell the Avatar with so I guess you can't do that. Do you have to hear them at least once in order to find them?"

Her smile then faltered, "Y-Yeah... but! If I somehow hear someone speaking about the Avatar then that'll work. But first, let me check. Be quiet please." She had closed her eyes, opening her ear canals to the world, he had watched her as she had fully concentrated on the task, "So far I hear nothing but people wondering where he is. So it's a male!" She had then broke out of the trance and made her hearing normal.

Zuko nodded, "I suppose that's a good thing. That means nobody has found him yet, that works in my favor. If you hear anything that sounds suspicious then I want you to tell me."

"Mm." The fox had nodded, he had then stare at her for a few seconds. "Hm?"

"Nothing. You'll be staying here." He said, "There's no other cabin for you to stay in and I can't let you sleep with the henchmen"

Her eyes then looked towards the bed before focusing back on him, "Then we'll be sharing the bed?"

His eyes had immediately gone wide, "What?!"

"It's just..." She had pointed towards the bed, "there's only one bed."

Zuko then realized her point and shook his head, "You'll be sleeping on the floor."

"Mm." She gave him a nod, "I'm really hungry... I haven't eaten in four-hundred years..."

"Four-hundred years?!" He was flabbergasted as she had placed her hands on her growling stomach, whining like a wounded puppy.

"I want moo-sow or picken, but I really want hippo cow...Ohhh..." She howled softly.

Zuko had sighed and then walked towards the door, "Henchman." He called one of the ones nearby, "Tell the chef to prepare lunch and to make something with high quality hippo cow.

Zuko warned her to wait patiently as she had laid on the floor, moaning and groaning about food. "Picken, moo-sow, hippo cowwwww~" She had rolled to her side back and forth, her hands pressing her stomach further.

It would be a lie to say he wasn't amused but he knew that this wasn't just some joke and that she was actually starving. There was the fact that she craved me more than anything else, which only proved the whole Kyuubi aspect.

A knock rapped on his cabin door, "Who is it?"

"It's me," Iroh had said through the door, "is your company alright?" Zuko had opened the door as Iroh had looked down at the dark-haired female that rolled around.

"Picken," She groaned, "moo-sow..." She had then kicked her feet in a tantrum, "hippo cow!"

He raised a brow, amused himself as Zuko gave his relative a rather blank expression. "She hasn't eaten in a long time, or so she says."

The prince still wasn't keen on the idea of telling his uncle what she was just yet, he figured he would have to wait until there was some proof even though the painting was proof enough. It was obvious that there was a mark to prove that something was missing but everything still sounded far-fetch.

"Did you tell the chef to prepare something to eat?" Zuko nodded in reply, "W-What? That's quicker than you would've done for me and I'm your uncle! And I'm older! Do I have to act like that to eat too?"

He had laid down beside the fox, "Picken, moo-sow, hippo cow~" They howled in a unison, leaving the prince to slap his palm against his forehead. He wasn't sure if he was going to be able to handle the both of them.

"You're both acting like a bunch of children." Zuko said, folding his arms across his chest. "You're too old to be acting like a spoiled brat, Uncle."

"But I am hungry as well and this is the only way you'll feed your old, loving uncle." Iroh explained woefully, rolling along with the vixen beside him.

The fox had then looked to Iroh, "I'm so hungry..."

"So am I." He replied as they had given each other a look of understanding of each other's "pain". They then continued their nonsensical act, "So hungryyyy~"

Massaging the bridge of his nose, he sighed as he had leaned against the ship wall in order to keep his temper under control. He had listened to them whine insistently, trying to act like their behavior wasn't bothering him even though it clearly was.

He had waited until the chef said that the food was prepared in the dining area, in which Zuko sighed out of relief when he had seen the fox quickly stand and bring his uncle to his feet. "The chef said the food is done! Don't you smell it?" She asked him.

Iroh sniffed the air twice and then smiled, "Mm... Is that grilled hippo cow I smell?"

"H-Hippo cow!" Immediately, she had fled towards the door with Iroh in tow, a rupture of laughter leaving him.

Zuko had looked down the hall, fighting the sigh of aggravation that threatened to release itself.

After a few minutes, he had headed his way towards the dining area and opened the door. It was safe to say that the prince was appalled by how barbarically the vixen was stuffing her face and the way that his uncle seemed to share such behavior. "Mm~" She had hummed as she had plopped another piece of grilled meat in her mouth, not even bothering to touch the vegetables or the rice.

His eyes studied how she only ate the meat, but he assumed that rice wouldn't be apart of a Kyuubi's diet anyway. Iroh didn't pay any mind, he was too busy trying to eat before she had eaten everything.

"The food isn't going anywhere." Zuko said to her, she had looked at him and let out a nervous laugh.

"It's been so long since I had meat." She had explained to him, sighing happily as she had spoke with a full mouth, "I can't help myself."

Iroh had smiled, "You sure try the fried cabbage and rice. It is really good."

Her eyes widened slightly as she then gave him an forced smile, "Oh...?"

Her eyes then met Zuko's, who was waiting to see if she was going to eat the food Iroh suggested. "Try it." Iroh had lightly goaded.

Hesitantly, she had raised her chopsticks over the bowl of fried cabbage. Her hand slightly shook as she had picked one piece of cabbage up and stared at it. "It's quite spicy but it is really good." Iroh said as she had nodded.

Slowly, she had inched the spicy food towards her lips and felt her nostrils flare up from the sensitively towards the spices that was used to heat it up. A bead of sweat had rolled down her face as she had parted her lips some and placed the food in her mouth.

Her eyes had gone wide and then a frown appeared as she had chewed. It was hot but it was bearable, but the fact that it was vegetable, well, more like a leaf in her opinion was made the taste unbearable. "Ack!" She had coughed and shook her head, "No!"

She had stuck out her tongue, continuing to make gagging noises. The prince sighed at her behavior and shook his head while Iroh tried to hold back a laugh. Her chopsticks went back towards a cutlet of picken and began to stuff her mouth again with anything that had meat.

"I guess vegetarian isn't for her, hm?" Iroh joked to his nephew, who had ate his food quietly.

His eyes looked away from his bowl of rice and towards his uncle, "I suppose so."

"How did you meet her in the first place. This is all so sudden and odd," Iroh questioned, "I mean I think it was due time we had a feminine essence to the ship." Iroh nodded as he had looked to the girl beside him, who continued to dance as she had continued to eat.

Zuko tried to figure a reasonable story. "Well, when I went looking for you during the storm..." He paused, "I met her." He quickly said. She had looked at Zuko, wondering why he wasn't telling the man the truth. "She told me she had abilities to find the Avatar, and proved them to me."

His uncle looked skeptical and then looked to the girl beside him. "Is that true?"

The fox became tense, unsure if she could go with the boy's lie. He had nodded towards her when he was sure that his uncle wasn't looking, she had looked from Zuko and then at Iroh. "Mm, yeah." She nodded, going along with it.

"What are these abilities?" Iroh inquired, "Is it a sort of bending?"

"No." She shook her head, "My senses are really strong and if there's something happening in the world. I can see it and hear it."

The older man looked surprised, his eyes big and staring at the young woman. "How did you come across such abilities?"

"I've always had them." She answered honestly, nodding her head.

"And what about your parents?" Iroh asked, "Your family? Won't they be worried.

Picking up another piece of hippo cow, she had plopped in her mouth and looked at him and shook her head. "I don't have anything like that."

The prince's expression had softened as a doleful look was on his face as he had thought about his own estranged family. "Oh..." Iroh spoke, "I see."

It didn't bother her in the slightest since she was accustomed to never really having a family. She had ate some more hippo cow as a more humdrum atmosphere had taken place. Of course it didn't affect her, she was too busy happy about eating meat.

When the plates were clear of food, the fox had placed her hand on her stomach patted twice. Iroh had sighed, rubbing his full and round belly. "That was a good meal. I should thank the chef." Iroh had nodded.

"Can you give him thanks from me too?" asked the vixen as she had given him a smile. "It's been a while since I had something good!"

Without so much as a word, Zuko stood from his seat and looked towards the fox. "We'll have to do some more investigation on the Avatar's whereabouts."

She nodded and then looked to Iroh, "See you later." She had waved and he had waved in return as she had followed the boy out of the dining area and down the hall.

Her eyes had looked at the few henchman that were standing guard. She had then stopped by and stared at one of them, who had looked both ways to see if she was looking directly at him. "Uhm..." His voice was clear through the mask he wore.

"You smell like candy. Do you have candy?" She asked as he seemed quite startled.

Zuko had stopped walking when he noticed she wasn't following behind and was instead asking something from his henchman. "You must have a good sense of smell." He complimented as he had dug in his pocket and pulled out a bag of candies.

She had smiled as she had see the bag full of different colored star-shaped candies. "Oooh! They are so pretty." She squealed, clapping her hands together excitedly.

"They are Fire Nation candy, it's rare to find them in the Earth Kingdom." The henchman went on to say as she had smiled as he had dropped some candy in her hands.

Picking one up, she sniffed it twice. "Lots of sugar..." She had noted before plopping it on her tongue and then let out a cheerful squeal. "So sweet! It's really good."

"I know!" The henchman had joined her cheerful banter.

Zuko sighed, rubbing his temples but then opened one eye to notice that she was beside him. She had outstretched her arm ,"Would you like some?"

He shook his head and then walked forward and she followed behind him to the cabin. The door was shut as she continued to eat the sweet and colorful candies. "Alright, can you try to hear for the Avatar again?"

"I can try." She nodded and then looked to Zuko, "I have to concent-"

"Wait," He had then grabbed her wrist and led her towards the deck. She had looked at him curiously as they had left the inside of the ship and was not outside.

It was immediately that she had felt overwhelmed from seeing the vast ocean, she had begun to breathe heavily as her eyes kept looking around frantically. "Maybe you'll see better out here."

Clenching her teeth, she curled and uncurled her fingers as she had tried to fight her fear. The smell of the ocean was too much and drowned out a lot of other smells, she had tried to keep herself from becoming too scared and told herself she was safe where she was.

Suddenly, there was a bright shaft of light that was reaching the heavens. Everyone had looked at it, their faces illuminated by the bright blue light. "That has to be the Avatar..." Zuko said hopefully. "Uncle, do you realize what this means?" He turned to address his uncle.

Both of them had looked to see the old man sitting cross-legged at a low table, playing a game of Pai sho with a cup of tea still steaming. "I won't get to finish my game?"

"It means my search - it's about to come to an end, doesn't it?" He then looked to the kyuubi, who appeared surprised. "That light came from an incredible powerful source. It has to be him!"

"Or it's just the celestial lights. We've been down this road before, Prince Zuko. I don't want you to get too excited over nothing. Please, sit. Why don't you enjoy a cup of calming jasmine tea?"

"I don't nee any calming tea! I need to capture the Avatar. Helmsman, head a course for the light!" He thundered and then looked towards the girl beside him, "I want you to look in that distance where that light came from."

With a nod, she had closed her eyes and breathed in and exhaled. When she opened her eyes, they were a shade of blue as she had looked towards the direction. Her ears had followed the sound from that area, her ear canals open and pinpointing the exact location.

"What do you see?" He whispered, figuring her ears were too sensitive for him to speak in a regular tone.

Her eyes looked in the direction of the light, seeing everything that was unfolding. "There's a boy... A young boy, a child at least. He has a bald head and there's an blue arrow tattooed on it. His eyes are glowing and so is his arrow marking; they are the color of the light we just seen."

"It's him..." Zuko muttered, a sense of overwhelming pride and happiness filling him. "Finally... But how is he a child? He should be over a hundred... No matter, we'll capture him."

Iroh had walked towards her but Zuko kept a finger over his mouth to signal for him not to talk. "He's unconscious but there's a boy and a girl with him. They wear blue robes; water tribe if I'm correct."

"It must be the Southern Water tribe." Zuko mumbled, nodding his head. "We finally got his exact location. You can stop now."

With a nod, she had closed her eyes and deactivated her world sight and hearing, returning them to her normal kyuubi senses. "How did I do?"

The prince was surprised by her question, she had looked up at him and waited for his answer. "Was I good?" He raised a brow and then looked away. "Heyyy!" She whined, stomping her feet on the metal floor. "You should praise me when I do good!"

"What are you, a pet?" He asked as she had looked offended by his words.

"First a dog, now you're calling me a pet?!" She scoffed, "When someone does well, you praise them." She nodded, speaking in a matter-of-fact tone.

Iroh chuckled and then pat her head, "You did a good job. My nephew isn't use to praising others."

A pout was on her face, her cheeks filled with air before looking towards Iroh. She had accepted his praise, and nodded as he had given her another pat, which made her smile.

Zuko had stayed on the deck until night had fallen, both Iroh and the kyuubi had stayed by his side until then but even Iroh had grown tired. "I'm going to bed now." He yawned rather exaggeratedly, which made the girl look at him with wonder. "Yep. A man needs his rest. Prince Zuko, you need some sleep. Even if the two of you are right and the Avatar is still alive, you won't find him. Your father, grandfather, and great-grandfather all tried and failed."

Her eyes had lowered as she had looked at the prince beside her. "Because their honor didn't hinge on the Avatar's capture. Mine does. This coward's hundred years in hiding are over."

His uncle had no more words to say and then looked towards her, making a silent agreement for her to watch over him. She gave him a quick nod as he had turned and left, leaving the two alone. "Why do you want to capture the Avatar so badly? What do you mean your honor hinges on his capture?"

"For the past hundred years, the world has been at war." He explained to her as she had looked at him astonished. "My father, the current Fire Lord, wants to capture the Avatar like his father Azulon and his father, who stared the war, Sozin."

"The war? What war?" She had asked him.

Zuko eyes had continued to look out into the ocean, "It all started about a decade and some years after Avatar Roku died, the Avatar after Kyoshi who was after Avatar Kuruk and preceded by Avatar Yangchen."

The fox now was caught up on after, "What happened when Avatar Roku died?"

"My great-grandfather, Great Fire Lord Sozin, used the power of a comet to strengthening his bending abilities and the Fire Nation army. He launched a genocidal attack on the Air Nomads to kill the current Avatar and halt the Avatar Cycle. The current Avatar obviously escaped."

In her eyes, it was horrendous hearing all this even though she never much cared about the physical world while she was here. She would hear stories in the spirit world before and heard vicious acts humans had done but that, that was by far the worse.

"Great Fire Lord Sozin spent all his life searching for him and then had his son, my grandfather Great Fire Lord Azulon, who carried on the war and now my father after him. We all want the Avatar to stop the cycle so that the Fire Nation can finally conquer the world." He had finished his explanation, looking at her to see what her reaction would be.

Her eyes had stared down at the floor and then looked up at the night sky, a group of clouds had hovered over the moon. "Prince Zuko," she had grabbed his sleeve, "did you wonder why you could never see my tails?"

It surprised him that she ignored the conversation before, changing the subject with a smile on her face. He nodded in reply.

"It's when the moonlight covers me, that my tails show." She had said with a smile, "Wanna see them?"

He wasn't as curious as she expected him to be, but he was still curious. He nodded again and she had stood a few steps away from him, closing her eyes as the moon's light had finally illuminated their form and nine tails had sprang out from her upper backside.

His eyes went wide in shock, "See? They are blue because I was made from fire and goblin ashes." She had said, "But they are pretty aren't they?"

Of course, Zuko wasn't going to indulge her and call them pretty. "We should be getting some sleep."

Her face had fell, a pout on her face. "You didn't tell me my tails were pretty. Are you afraid of them?"

"No." Zuko replied as he had walked towards the inside of the ship and she had dragged her feet behind her, when they had reached his cabin, he had thrown her an extra set of blankets and floor mat.

She had caught them and laid them down to make herself a bed. The kyuubi had laid down but then peered over at the prince, who had taken off his boots and laid down on his bed. She had waited until he had fallen asleep before climbing out of the futon and examining him.

A small smile had appeared on her face as she had gazed over his sleeping form. "I had fun being with him today." She spoke to herself, her hand had rested on his chest, rubbing in light circles over the area her fox bead was. "Even if we capture the Avatar tomorrow, I can still be with him until he is completely healed." A mischevious smile appeared on her face, "It's going to be fun."

* * *

Author's Note: Thank you for all the reviews. I've been thinking of writing a story like this for days and I am glad people like it so far. And no, it isn't like Naruto Avatar Fan. It's more to legend about women who were foxes like legends. Though it would've been an interesting twist if it was like Naruto!


	3. Chapter 3: Insight

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or its characters, Michael Dante DiMartino Bryan Konietzko do!

* * *

Never had she had a goodnight sleep like she had that night. After four-hundred years of being trapped in that painting by Grandma Mameha, she hadn't slept in comfort or peace. The sunlight from the cabin window had reached her closed eyes, making it somewhat uncomfortable for her to continue to sleep. So instead, she had opened her eyes halfway and stared for a while before sitting up to look over at Zuko's bed, which was empty.

Blinking a few times, she had wondered where he was. She had gotten on her feet and made her futon, trying to act like a human instead of a kyuubi. She had then left the cabin and went down the hall. Upon seeing one helmsman, the one who had given her candy, she had tugged on his sleeve. "Excuse me, do you know where Prince Zuko is?"

"Oh, Prince Zuko is training on the fore deck." He said.

The fox smiled and nodded, "Thank you." She had then waved and left, walking out of the inside of the ship. She was hesitant like yesterday but she was trying to fight her fear of the ocean.

Zuko had released a blast of fire from his hands at the guards, but had missed. Both guards had then aimed to attack Zuko with streams of fire from their fists, but the prince had executed a perfect dodge. "Ha!" He performed a backflip over them, landing behind them. "Heeya!"

Her eyes then focused on Iroh, who sighed and stood. "No! Power in firebending comes from the breath. Not the muscles. The breath becomes energy in the body. The energy extends past your limbs and becomes fire." He explained to his nephew, demonstrating what he meant by releasing a plume of flame that burst in front of his nephew without hitting him. "Get it right this time."

"Enough. I've been drilling this sequence all day. Teach me the next set. I'm more than ready." Zuko demanded.

His lack of respect to his elder sometimes had taken her off guard, but she could understand why he was frustrated. Practicing wasn't easy. "No, you are impatient. You have yet to master your basics." The usual calm and kind Iroh was replaced by a no-nonsense mentor, "Drill it again!" He said forcefully.

"Grrr... huh!" In that moment, Zuko blast on the guards backwards with a gout of fire. "The sages tell us that the Avatar is the last airbender. He must be over a hundred years old by now. He's had a century to master the four elements. I'll need more than basic firebending to defeat him. You will teach me the advanced set!"

Iroh spoke in defeat, "Very well. But first I must finish my roast duck." He had ate happily, even making noises to show how good it was.

Roast duck, huh? The fox was sure she never had duck before. Walking over towards Iroh, she had sat down and gazed at his food. "Mm, it smells good." She had said happily. "It kinda looks like picken but this is really brown."

"You sure do know your meat." Iroh had laughed, "Would you like to try it?"

With an eager nod, he had handed her a pair of chopsticks and she had picked up a piece of the roast duck. "Mm! It's really crispy!" She had said with a mouthful of food, dancing in her seat happily.

Zuko had then walked over to the two, "If you're hungry, you can get your own food."

"I can? Well, I'm hungry." She stated, sucking on the ends of the chopstick to take all of the sauce that the roast duck was covered with.

Iroh smiled as his nephew sighed, "I don't think you turning down food is likely."

"No, I never turn down meat." She nodded, "Especially hippo cow!"

Zuko sighed and nodded, "Helmsman, tell the chef to make her a plate of grilled hippo cow."

The fox had clapped her hands happily, chanting. "Hippo hippo hippo cow~ Hippo hippo cow~ Hippo hippo hippo cow~ Hippo hippo cow~"

The ex-general had chuckled amused by the girl's love for meat, more specifically eating meat. "She's a peculiar one."

"Tell me about it." His nephew replied, sighing.

"Now that I am done my roast duck, I'll teach you the advanced set but first!" Iroh looked towards the kyuubi, who tilted her head to the side in curiosity of what he was going to say. "Would you like some jasmine tea?"

She nodded her head in reply, "I haven't had tea in a long time."

"What? How are you feeling?" He placed his hand on her head to check if she had a temperature. "Are you well? How could you be without tea?"

"W-When someone doesn't drink tea, they get sick?" Now she was growing worried.

Zuko realized that she was growing actual fear out of the simple joke. "No, you won't get sick. You'll just be normal like anyone else."

The girl sighed in relief, her hand on her chest. "Good... I was worried."

**o**

The kyuubi had stood beside Iroh as the ship was heading towards the village. Her eyes then looked up to Iroh, who bore a rather blank expression. "This village doesn't look very..." She hummed as she had tried to find a word, "great."

"It's nothing like its sister village." He had said, "But I'm sure the last thing these people need is Fire Nation invading once more."

Her face fell, her eyes looking down as the ship had cut through ice all the way to the city wall. She had bit down on her lip, wondering if Zuko was going to behave harshly. She wasn't sure of the prince's true nature, if he was anything like Sozin, who did a genocide to air nomads and started this world-wide war.

Zuko had walked towards the bowsprit, waiting for the gangplank so they can disembark. She had walked over to him as he had donned his princely armor. She had observed it, tilting her head and even poking some areas. "Even the armor has changed..." She mumbled to herself.

He had eyed her suspiciously, wondering what she was thinking or up to. "Are you finished ogling me?"

"Hm?" She questioned and then nodded, "It...It fits you." Of course she preferred less armor so that she could see more of his build but she wanted to compliment him since she figured he was nervous. He was going to be the first of his lineage to capture the Avatar after all.

Her words had surprised him, causing him to stare at her and trying to register the compliment. The bowsprit of the ship had opened and fold out and down onto the village's floor as a gangplank. Zuko a host of Fire Nation soldiers walked down.

Even though she wanted to follow, she stayed behind and went back into the cabin. She didn't want to get in his way. She had sat down on her futon and sighed, pulling her knees to her chest as she had rested her chin in-between her knees.

"Yangchen, I hope you aren't angry with me for doing this." She sighed softly, closing her eyes as she had thought about the airbender that she had befriended centuries ago. "Well, I didn't do anything wrong. I made a deal." She nodded to herself, trying to make herself feel less bad about what was happening. "Besides, he's the Avatar and an airbender like you, Yangchen, he won't be captured so easily."

"Talking to myself isn't making me feel better," She shook her head, "maybe eating meat will!" She then clapped her hands. "That grilled hippo cow earlier was so good!"

Just thinking about the grilled, brown beef had made her happy. She had kicked her feet in excitement and continued to clap her hands.

"Mm, maybe I should wait so I can eat with Zuko." The fox had changed her mind, "He always watches me eat. Do I eat that much or maybe he's jealous that I can eat more than him! I am a nine-tailed fox, of course I can out eat any human."

"Maybe it isn't ladylike or something... Tch," she sucked her teeth, "like I cared about manners."

She tilted her head back and looked up at the ceiling, "It sounds like... they caught him already?!" She had blinked twice, "That fast? I've been talking to myself that I didn't even pay attention."

Standing on her feet, she had left the cabin and ran down the corridors. Walking in her direction was the young boy she had seen in her long-distance ability, he had his hands hand bound behind him as he faced Zuko and Iroh as well as a bunch of helmsman.

"This staff will make an excellent gift for my father. I suppose you wouldn't know of fathers, being raised by monks. Take the Avatar to the prison hold. And," He continued to order, shoving the staff in his uncle's hands, "take this to my quarters."

"Avatar!" The kyuubi had said, walking towards him. The young monk had looked at her, his grey eyes widening slightly at the sight of a girl on the ship.

He then parted his lips to speak, "Wow. What are you doing here? You're a girl... a pretty girl on a ship with Fire Benders?! Are you captured?!"

She had grinned from ear-to-ear, shaking her head. "I know! But no," She had changed the topic from her looks, "I've met Avatar Yangchen before~" She whispered.

His eyes had gone wide, wondering how she met an Avatar that was centuries prior to the current time. "He has to be taken to the prison hold." Zuko told her as she had nodded.

With a wave, she walked away from the Avatar as he had continued to stare at her, stunned. Meanwhile, Zuko's uncle immediately turned to the guard on his left, "Hey, you mind taking this to his quarters for me?" He politely asked as the guard took the staff as Aang was escorted.

"That was pretty quick." She had said to Zuko as she had walked beside him. "Seems like you bested your lineage. Good job!" She had congratulated him.

It surprised her to see a smile, although small, on his face. "You helped. I'll put in a good word for you to my father."

"The Fire Lord?" She said in surprise, "I'm not sure-" He had noticed how she instantly stopped talking mid-sentence. "He escaped."

"He what?!" Zuko growled, as she had placed her hands on his shoulders to stop him from sprinting off.

"He's running from room to room to find his staff. Give him the element of surprise." She had planned.

He had looked at her and then sighed, "That's a good plan." He had then made his way to his quarters, where the staff would be.

She wanted to cheer him on but she figured that wouldn't really work. It was best to trust that he would be able to recapture the Avatar. Besides, if the monk did escape then it gave her a larger excuse in sticking by him.

**o**

The Avatar had escaped and the ship had taken some damage. All the helmsman worked hard to fix the ship while she and Iroh as well avoided Zuko. His mood was sour and he was going to lash out on anyone who was in a five foot radius of him. Iroh had warned her to give him space when she insisted that she see him and cheer him up, even though she was unsure how one could cheer someone such as Zuko up in the first place.

So as they stayed at the Fire Nation naval yard, she kept herself in a tent with a scroll in hand. Iroh had given her stories to read while she was in there so that she would be bored. "Mm, I wonder if there are stories about Yangchen or other Avatars. Or maybe I should stick with Fire Nation stuff?" She had looked at the scroll, pondering.

Zuko had walked into the tent much to her surprise and sat down, sighing. "What's wrong?" She asked, placing the scroll down and crawling over towards him and sitting in front of him.

"The Avatar will get away and I'll lose his trail if repairs aren't made quickly." He had rubbed the side of his face in aggravation, venting his frustrations much to her surprise.

"You got me, so you don't have to worry about that." Giving him a thumbs up, something that she had seen Iroh give one of the helmsman, she had smiled as well.

The prince nodded, "Right..."

He didn't sound as confident as he used to, which made her worry. Maybe it was because he was so close in going home with the Avatar that his confidence was wavering. "Prince Zuko," His gaze had locked on her as she had called his name, "what's the Fire Nation like?"

It surprised him that she was curious about the Fire Nation, but he figured that with so much talk of it that she would be curious. "It's the best nation in the world." He said proudly, "Built with men of honor and hardworking citizens rich in culture."

The fox wondered if that had helped shift his attention away from the Avatar, "I see. Everyone talks about how much they miss home but I know nobody misses the Fire Nation more than you do."

"Yeah..." Zuko nodded.

"Mm, but I met someone from the Fire Nation before. He was the first Fire Lord, Fire Lord Jimmu." The boy's eyes grew wide. "But I met him in the spiritual world, he's... a very serious man." She had smiled as she had thought about the man who always sat in the forest, meditating.

Zuko had then leaned closer, wanting her to continue. "I expect nothing less from the first Fire Lord, he is widely celebrated."

"He's mean too." The girl puffed up her face, "He always said I was annoying because I always came to visit him. He likes solitude, that much I know, but he's fun to be around."

He arched a brow, "If you knew he liked solitude then why did you bother him?"

"Because he would teach me things about the physical world." She explained, fiddling with her fingers. "He taught me things I would need to know. He said I shouldn't believe that my looks will get me by if I got into the physical world. He said humans are complicated, have rules and morals they abide by. Not all of them but most of them."

Zuko nodded, agreeing. "But you still lack manners and etiquette."

"I never said I was perfect, and it's not like I'm trying to be a human or anything." She had pouted, looking away from him.

"You don't want to be a human?" He asked.

With a shrug of her shoulders, she had closed her eyes for a few minutes. "I never really thought about it and I'm not sure how I can anyway."

Zuko had immediately got on his feet, the fox doing the same as she had stood beside him. They had both walked out of the tent walking into the yard, she had looked at him occasionally and then surveyed the area. When he found Iroh, he had walked up to him. "Are they making any repairs?" He asked about the helmsman, "I don't want to stay too long and risk losing his trail."

"You mean the Avatar?" Iroh questioned.

The expression on Zuko's face became sour, glaring at his uncle. "Don't mention his name on these docks! Once words get out that he's alive every firebender will be out looking for him and I don't want anyone getting in the way."

"Getting in the way of what, Prince Zuko?" A voice nearby said, all three of them looking towards the owner of the voice.

Both Zuko and Iroh wore rather surprised expression while the fox looked at the man curiously. The vibes he gave off weren't friendly and dark. His hands were clasped behind his back as he had stood with an air of authority and importance, "Captain Zhao..." Zuko said his name in disdain.

"It's Commander now. And General Iroh-" He had bowed to Iroh, "-great hero of our nation."

"Retired General." Iroh had corrected the newly appointed commander.

"And, you are?" He said to the girl, who had bowed respectfully.

Honestly, she didn't have a name. So how could she introduce herself? "I'm..." She hummed.

Zuko had stepped in, "This is Noa." He immediately said, not wanting to complicate things.

The fox had looked at with surprise, a smile had then formed on her face as she had looked at the prince in awe. "Y-Yes, I'm Noa." She then said, "I'm a bit nervous. I never been in a situation to meet so many great Fire Nation warriors..." She quickly made up.

Her words satisfied him, and he didn't bother to ask more questions. For now. "The Fire Lord's brother and son, and company, are welcome guests anytime. What brings you to my harbor?" Zhao had asked the politely.

"Our ship is being repaired." Iroh answered honestly, gesturing to snow damaged bow of the prince's ship.

The commander had squinted his eyes, "That's quite a bit of damage."

"Yes... you wouldn't believe what happened." Iroh's nephew had gave him a glance, immediately passing the explanation onto him since he couldn't pick one for himself. "Uncle! Tell Commander Zhao what happened."

Now named as Noa, had withheld her laugh as the former general's eyes had went wide as he had blinked twice. Not believing the young man placed the burden on him. "Yes, I will do that. It was incredible." He leaned over to Zuko, whispering. "What... did we crash or something?"

Now growing uncomfortable, Zuko immediately went with the idea. "Uh, yes! Right into an Earth Kingdom ship." Zuko nodded.

"Really? You must regale me with all the thrilling details." Zhao said, Noa had looked at him skeptically. He was smiling, challenging Zuko. "Join me for a drink?"

"Sorry, but we have to go." Turning to leave, Zuko was about to walk away until his uncle placed a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

"Prince Zuko, show Commander Zhao your respect." Iroh scolded and then turned to the commander, "We would be honored to join you. Do you have any ginseng tea? It's my favorite."

Noa had watched the prince growl as the older men walked off. A flame had released from his fists angrily as he had faced the direction the two walked off towards. Noa had grabbed onto his shoulder, squeezing it in a attempt to calm him.

He merely looked at her and then walked off, her hands jerking back to her side. With a sigh, she had followed shortly behind down the dock.

They had entered a relatively large and prominent tent, a Fire Nation symbol on it. Two guards were standing in front of the tent, bearing intimidating looks. Noa had looked around the interior, seeing how lavish it was just like the inside of Zuko's ship.

Zhao had stood in front of a relatively large map, explain about the capture of the Earth Kingdom's capital. Ba Sing Se. "And by year's end, the Earth Kingdom capital will be under our rule." He finished his explanation. Noa had sat beside Zuko in one of the three chairs in front of Zhao while Iroh was inspecting a stand of weapons on the left. "The Fire Lord will finally claim victory in this war." Zhao continued on.

"If my father thinks the rest of the world will follow him willingly, then he is a fool." Zuko had said, Noa looking at him with a confused expression. It was then she understood that nobody was supposed to know that Zuko was close to giving his father the Avatar.

The commander had then took a seat in the chair next to Zuko, "Two years at sea have done little to temper your tongue." Noa had furrowed her brows, "So, how is your search for the Avatar going?"

Noa had then shifted her eyes in the direction Iroh was in since he had tipped over the stand of weapons that he was scoping. He was cringing, growing embarrassed at the mess he had just created, "My fault entirely."

He had then backed away, Zhao watching the former general move away. "We haven't found him yet." Zuko had finally answered the commander's question.

"Did you really expect to? The Avatar died a hundred years ago along with the rest of the airbenders." Zhao nodded his head, Noa frowned when Zuko wore such a guilty expression, his eyes averting. "Unless you found some evidence that the Avatar is alive."

He was an entirely bad liar. "No. Nothing." His eyes still looked away from Zhao.

The commander had rose from his chair, "Prince Zuko, the Avatar is the only one who can stop the Fire Nation from winning this war. If you haven an ounce-" He leaned into the prince's face, trying to keep his intimidation scheme- "of loyalty left, you'll tell me what you've found."

"I haven't found anything." Zuko remained defiant, Noa smiling as he kept a strong act. "It's like you said. The Avatar probably died a long time ago. Come on, Uncle, Noa, we're going."

Both teenagers stood, but when they tried to exit the guards had blocked their path by crossing their spears in front of them. Another guard had approached Zhao to deliver his findings, "Commander Zhao, we interrogated the crew as you instructed. They confirmed Prince Zuko had the Avatar in his custody, but let him escape. They also said the girl had these powerful abilities that allowed her to find him."

"Now, remind me..." Zhao had walked towards them from behind, looking at them both. "...How exactly was your ship damaged?" He then looked towards the kyuubi, "And you should explain to me about your powers." Both of them had hung their heads. Zuko had walked back to the chair, Noa sitting beside him again. Zuko had then retold the events, and not willing but had told Zhao about Noa's abilities without bringing up that she wasn't human.

Zhao had sat in front of them, observing the unhappy expression of the exiled Fire Nation prince before him while the girl beside him had looked solely at him. He smirked slightly as the guards had stood behind the teenagers in case they had gotten antsy. "So, a twelve-year-old boy bested you and your firebenders?" His tone was smug, "You're more pathetic than I thought."

"I underestimated him once, but it will not happen again." Zuko promised, more so to himself than to Commander Zhao

However, the commander wasn't feeding into it. "No, it will not, because you won't have a second chance."

Zuko and Noa had looked at Zhao in shock. "Commander Zhao, I've been hunting the Avatar for two years and I-"

Zhao had interrupted him, turning to look at him with angry expression as flames erupted from his hand as he swept it in an arc from left to right, "And you failed!" His voice boomed through the tent as he towered over Zuko. Noa had set her jaw, her hands curling up into fists and tightening until her knuckles had turned white. "Capturing the Avatar is too important to leave in a teenager's hands. He's mine now."

Noa had stopped Zuko from lunging out of his chair and at Zhao, her strength able to keep him at bay despite the fight he put up. Zhao had looked in amazement that she was able to keep the Prince back, "And you." He turned to look at her, "We haven't gotten to talk about why you have these abilities."

"It's none of your business, really." Noa had said to him, still restraining Zuko from attacking the commander. "And I'm not telling you anything. I pledged allegiance to the Fire Lord's son, not a measly Commander who isn't even good enough to be a general."

The man's expression darkened at her words as she had looked below his rank. Calling Commander a unsubstantial rank; something that isn't as great as he had tried to make it seem to be. "What did you just say?"

"I'm sure you heard what I said." Noa had given him a small, mocking smile. "Unless you have hearing troubles, Commander Zhao."

Growing frustrated by her talking down to him, he had turned to leave the tent. "Keep them here!" He barked an order to his guards before walking out of the tent.

The prince had kicked over a small table that was near Iroh, he was frustrated as the piece of furniture had broken into pieces. Iroh kept a serene persona while Noa grew concerned of Zuko and their now growing problem; Commander Zhao.

Noa had looked to Zuko, both hands slowly raising and then grabbing on his sleeve as she had leaned in to whisper in his ear. "What are we going to do?"

He wore a rather unsure expression, looking at her from the corner of his eyes before looking back at Zhao, who had returned back inside the tent. "There's nothing we can do right now." He muttered a reply.

She frowned deeply before letting go of his sleeve but remaining close to him. "Do you want me to hurt him? I can."

Before Zuko could reply, Zhao spoke. "My search party is ready. Once I'm out to sea, my guards will escort you back to your ship and your free to go."

"Why? Are you worried I'm going to stop you?" Zuko asked, smirking. "I still hold a better advantage. No matter how great your searching skills are." Noa figured he was talking about her, which made her smile and nod in agreement.

The commander had gone into a fit of laughter, wondering what gave the prince that idea. "You? Stop me? Impossible." He then wiped a tear from the corner of his eyes, "But you do pose a point. You do have a greater advantage because of _that_ girl."

Noa had nodded, "You'll never have anyone who is as skilled as me. I can even find the Avatar right now if I wanted."

Zhao had then taken on a rather unreadable expression. "You're right. If your powers are as they say, I don't have the advantage. Which is why you'll be coming with me."

"What?" Noa looked at him surprised, Zuko had glowered at the commander. "I'm not going with you, you don't own me!" She had sucked her teeth, placing her hands on her hips. "You don't know who I am and what I'm capable of."

"And that's a problem." Zhao leaned in to say, Noa had clenched her teeth as Zuko took a step between Zhao and the kyuubi.

She had looked up at Zuko, only to see a part of his scarred face before shifting her gaze to Zhao. "She's not going with you." The prince said, making it clear. "You have no authority to take her."

"I believe I do." Zhao had given him a deride smile, "You're in my territory."

Noa then bore a look of worry, her eyes dancing back to Zuko as she had gripped onto the back of his Fire Nation clothes. Iroh had watched the two, not stepping in since he wanted to see what choice his nephew would make. "I don't care if this is your territory." He sneered, "Don't underestimate me, Zhao. I will capture the Avatar before you, and you're not taking Noa anywhere."

"Prince Zuko, that's enough!" Iroh then stood in, trying to stop an incoming fight that was about to brew.

Noa had tried hard to fight a smile, almost happy that Zuko was fighting to keep her. Still, it didn't make Iroh happy and she knew it was because his nephew was being disrespectful when he could've been more civil. "You can't compete with me. I have hundreds of warships under my command, and you... you're just a banished prince. No home. No allies. Your own father doesn't even want you."

Her eyes had went wide at Zhao's words. Zuko was a banished prince? That's why he was out at sea? Did he have a horrible relationship with his father? Her eyes had stayed focused on the prince with concern and curiosity even though he had wore his hurt on his face. "You're wrong. Once I deliver the Avatar to my father he will welcome me home with honor and restore my rightful place on the throne."

He sounded so sure, so hopeful to that idea. Her lips parted to speak, to stop him, and to tell him that it would happen but she closed her lips. This was not her place. "If your father really wanted you home, he'd have let you return by now, Avatar or no Avatar, but in his eyes you are a failure and a disgrace to the Fire Nation." Zhao snapped at the prince.

"That's not true!" Zuko cried as Noa could feel her heart tightening. Her hand had slowly went to her chest, letting go of his top as she had gripped a handful of her own top; trying to stop the heartache that she had felt for him.

Why did she feel this pain? She didn't know him. What was this? Was it empathy? Why did she want to save him? "You have the scar to prove it." Her heart had became even tighter, her eyes widening in complete shock at Zhao's words.

That was enough for Zuko. He would have no more of Zhao's cruel words. With a sharp cry of anger, he had marched himself towards Zhao face-to-face, "Maybe you'd like one to match!" Zuko roared.

"Is that a challenge?" Zhao questioned, amused and also pondering if Zuko was brave enough.

"An Agni Kai. At sunset." Resolute in his words, the prince did not appear to have the slightest trace of taking back his words.

Zhao closed his eyes briefly, exhaling. "Very well. It's a shame your father won't be here to watch me humiliate you. I guess your uncle and this girl will do."

With a sharp turn with his hands clasped behind him, Zhao had walked out of the tent, leaving the three by themselves. "Prince Zuko," Iroh had said calmly, "have you forgotten what happened last time you dueled a master?"

Noa had looked at the two, "I will never forget." His nephew replied solemnly.

Pressing her lips together, her eyes had lowered to the floor as Zuko had turned to look at her. Her vanilla gold eyes had looked up from the floor and to the banished prince. "Zhao isn't going to have his way."

Unsure of whether it not it was to reassure her or himself, she had given him a nod.

Zuko was the first to walk out of the tent, the aura around him hot as a room of fire. The room felt cool when his presence was gone, but it left a strong imprint on the kitsune in the room. Iroh had looked towards her as she had looked at the entrance/exit of the tent. "You must be confused about a lot of things." Iroh had spoken softly.

"Mm..." She nodded, agreeing. "It's not my place to ask and so I won't." She had said as she had given him a smile, "Zuko is very strong."

"Indeed, my nephew is strong but as any other human, he has his weaknesses." With a sigh, Iroh had then placed a hand on her shoulder. "Let's go, Zuko needs support."

Noa had nodded and walked alongside to exit the tent, they were escorted to the arena within the area. Both of them had gone to see Zuko first as he had prepared for battle. Noa wasn't quite sure what to say but Iroh allowed her a few minutes alone with him.

"You don't have to do this." Noa had said as Zuko had pressed his brows together, growing agitated by her words. "But I know you're set on this, and so I'm not going to stop you."

He had nodded as he had then felt a hand on his back, "My bead will take care of you if you get hurt. You'll feel as strong as a thousand men fighting him! So, show him how great my bead is." She had patted twice.

She had stopped him from saying anything once again, "Oh..." Her hands had went to her sides. "You're not a failure. Commander Zhao is just a stupid man." She wasn't sure if it would help cheer him up but she thought it was good to try.

The prince had looked at her in surprise but kept an unsmiling face. "Thank you." He remarked, his voice calm yet full of determination.

Noa had did a small smile before walking towards Iroh as Zhao and Zuko got in position to kneel. "What are the rules in Agni Kai these days? They aren't to the death anymore, are they?" She had asked Iroh.

"Oh, of course not." Iroh had said before looking towards his nephew, "Remember your firebending basics, Prince Zuko. They are your greatest weapons!"

The fox had watched Zuko and Zhao both stand, the ceremonial shoulder wrap had fell off their shoulders and onto the arena floor. 'He reminds me of Jimmu.' She had thought, 'Except Zuko's heart in engulfed in fire; fire of anger and longing...'

Noa had continued to watch the prince with sad yet hopeful eyes, believing that he would prosper in this battle. 'Humans... are really gentle creatures despite how strong they make themselves appear to be.'

The sound of a gong being struck had broken the intense atmosphere, filling their ears with it's loud sound. She had winced slightly, rubbing her human ears gently as she kept her eyes fixated on both firebenders.

In her eyes, it almost felt like he, Zuko, was fighting an invisible enemy. Her eyes couldn't leave his form, memorized by him and him alone. The expression he had made cursing himself for his mistakes, proud of his strategy, or that overall desperate look in his eyes to win. Her eyes couldn't look away as she had watched the battle wonderstruck.

His movement held impact, quick yet heavy. Zhao had then crouched forward, shooting a flame at a point on the ground close in front of him, which made Iroh and Noa anxious. "Basics, Zuko! Break his root!" Iroh had said, as Noa had kept her focus and hope to the prince.

That desperation in his voice to learn the advanced set had came into her mind. It was times like these that he needed to be more skilled; that he was so antsy and impolite because he wanted to learn, but she could see why Iroh was hesitant. His aggression was with his firebending. Every movement, every strike held anger.

The battle was getting intense and there was a moment that Zuko was knocked over, skidding backwards in the dirt of the arena floor. The kyuubi's eyes had widened, wondering if he was fine but decided to trust that Zuko would get back up and that he would defeat Zhao. And he did just that.

Iroh had looked at Noa, noticing how quiet and observant she was to the battle. From her dilated eyes and her unbreakable focus, he had smiled as he had noticed that she did not lose an ounce of belief in his nephew. In her eyes, Zuko would win.

Zhao was now flat on the ground from a blast of fire. Zuko had ran towards him, preparing to finish the battle with one last blow. "Do it!" Zhao cried, not fearing what would happen to him. Zuko had fired a blast, Noa's eyes widened as it did not hit Zhao at all but just next to him.

He showed mercy.

"That's it? Your father raised a coward." spat the commander.

"Next time you get in my way, I promise I won't hold back." Zuko said to him, turning his back to him and began to walk away.

Unable to accept his defeat, Zhao had gotten on his feet and with a howl, he unleashed a whip made of flame towards the prince. Noa was about to shout to Zuko, to tell him to watch out but Iroh had intervened. With a sigh of relief, she had placed her hand over her heart to feel it beating relentlessly in her chest cavity.

Why did she feel so nervous? Why did her stomach feel airy yet her chest had felt heavy? Even her face had felt hot and there was a lump in her throat. Biting down on her bottom lip, she had looked up to see Iroh and Zuko walking in her direction.

Zuko and Iroh had stopped in front of her as Noa had looked solely at the prince. All the emotions she was pondering about had became plethora. With a smile, Iroh had patted Zuko's back. "I'll get the crew ready and we'll get ready to go at sea." He explained, walking away from them.

Her eyes had briefly looked away from Zuko, her hands behind her nervously. "You..." She spoke softly, "You did well."

It wasn't like she was going to expect an answer but Zuko had nodded, which she had took as a thanks. Inhaling and then exhaling shortly afterwards, she had turned away from him as she had felt her mouth going dry. She had walked away with no more words to say.

Somehow Zuko was expecting a much different reaction and he could tell that she was acting strangely. Her usual hyper and cheerful persona was mild and tamed, when the day he met her she had clung onto him without shame or dignity.

The girl who sung about eating hippo cow didn't seem like herself but he concluded that he was thinking too much into it. Maybe she felt now wasn't the right time to behave like that, maybe she was letting the atmosphere change her attitude for now.

Already feeling proud of his actions and his uncle's words of praise, he had walked towards the ship but felt his feet slowing down some. Hs stride had slowed down so that he could walk next to the kyuubi, who kept her eyes towards the ground in thought.

**o**

Once they had boarded the ship, Noa had sighed heavily as she had made her way towards Zuko's cabin. Opening the door, she had walked over towards her futon and laid down. "I don't feel so weird anymore." She said to herself, her hand rubbing circles on her chest. "It doesn't feel weird and heavy... It felt like my heart would just explode." With a sigh, she had rolled onto her back. "Humans have such weird bodies... this never happened in my fox form."

Closing her eyes, she had adjusting herself within the blanket before opening her eyes halfway to stare at the ceiling. "He looked really cool out there..." Noa had fought to smile, "Bending, huh? Firebending at that. Humans have pretty powers..." Rolling to her side as she had grown uncomfortable on her back, she had continued with the conversation with herself. "I hate that Commander Zhao, he's such... ugh." She had stuck her tongue out, disgusted with the thought of him. "But something tells me this won't be the last of him..."

Too long into conversation, she was startled when the door had opened as Zuko had walked in with a loose tunic and baggy pants, his hair damp. He smelled like water, but not just water, his natural body odor was strong; the smell of smoke and ember, with a spicy twinge that didn't burn her nostril but had this electric feeling through them. He smelled nice. It was a smell that she could easily identify that belonged to him and him alone, while Iroh smelled of ginseng.

Zuko had used the towel around his neck to wipe his face and dry his hair, he had looked in her direction as she had already looked away from him. "Prince Zuko," she had called his name.

His eyes had closed for a few seconds before opening, his eyes focusing on his bed. "What?"

"Why did you give me the name Noa?" She had questioned, "I like it but... I'm just curious why it was the first to come to mind."

He had became still for a few moments before sitting down at the edge of his bed. "When I was young, my mother always took me to see this play whenever we vacationed on Ember Island. It was called "Love Amongst the Dragons." It was butchered, but the story wasn't so bad." The kyuubi had listened intently, "The Dragon Empress's name was Noa, and so that was the only feminine name I could think of."

His answer was satisfactory and it made her curious about the play. "I see." She had smiled, "I like it. I'm going to keep it."

"You didn't have a name?" Zuko had then asked, his eyes focused in the area where she was. He couldn't see her face since she was lying down, her back in his line of sight.

"No." Noa had answered honestly, "I was always called 'Kit', 'Fox', or 'You'. I never had a name. Something that was mine." The prince had continued to stare in her direction, "So thank you, Prince Zuko, for giving me a name. It makes me feel like a person. Goodnight."

Silence had filled the room as she had adjusted herself within the blankets, he had continued to stare in her direction before blowing the candle light beside his bed. "Goodnight." He had muttered before lying down in his bed, his eyes falling close as sleep had consumed him.

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**Author's Note:** AvatarFan: MGIAG was a big inspiration for this story! Thank you to everyone else who reviewed, I appreciate them. This chapter ended up kind of long and I might go on this long streak, but I'll waver... I'll definitely waver. Anyway, stay tuned!

**Fun fact: **Jimmu is actually name of the first Emperor of Japan, descendant of the Goddess of the Sun Amaterasu.

NOA/乃愛  
From Japanese _乃 (no)_, a possessive particle, and _愛 (a)_ "love, affection".


	4. Chapter 4: Little by Little

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or its characters, Michael Dante DiMartino Bryan Konietzko do!

* * *

"Mm~" Noa hummed as she had chewed on the cutlet picken that was breaded and fried. "Food has become really intricate these days. They never had this around last time I was in the physical world." She had said to Zuko, who was sitting across from her and eating his own food.

Iroh wasn't with them, he was still taking nap. Zuko had looked away from his thick-sliced, pickled radish and up at her. "What meat don't you like?" He questioned, not surprised that she had enjoyed the croquettes.

"Human meat." Her answer was quick and to the point, the prince was somewhat startled.

"You've tried human before?" He had asked her as she had then frozen in place, now realizing her mistake. Placing her chopsticks down, she had placed her hands in an apologetic prayer form. "It was just one time and he was dying anyway, so I ate a piece of his liver."

Zuko's eyes dilated, placing his own chopsticks down at the table. "And you sleep in my room?! You've thought about eating my liver, haven't you?!"

"I told you I wouldn't!" She had shaken her head, trying to take the ideas out of his head.

"You didn't answer my question." His voice was dangerously low, his eyes squinted as they had locked onto her in a heated gaze.

With a sigh, she had looked down at her lap and fiddled with her fingers. "Once..."

"Just once?" He persisted, which made her chew her underlip. "Noa..." The aggressiveness in his tone made her want to sink in her chair.

"About nine times..." Noa answered truthfully, "But that's because two days ago you tried to make me eat vegetables!" The fox whined, "I'm sorry... I couldn't help it. I was without meeeeeeeeeat."

It was true. He was annoyed by her eating just meat, leaving the quantity of vegetables and rice high. Even the helmsmans had vegetarian meals or two because of her eating all the meats that they had, which made them had to keep buying more meat. He figured he could solve it by cutting back, but the kyuubi's diet was carnivorous.

He couldn't necessarily be mad at her because despite how much she protested, she had did at least try the rice and cabbage and any other meatless food. And his uncle couldn't stand to hear her whining and crying and even scolded him for putting her through something "traumatic".

"Whatever." He decided to let the conversation go but he wouldn't forget that she had thought about eating his liver.

She did promise that she wouldn't eat him and she had stuck true to it, but what would happen if they had been lost out somewhere? Would she resort to eating him? Was he safe with her? He had eyed her suspiciously while she had picked up at picken cutlet and took a bite, chewing slowly with her eyes lowered.

Zuko had then picked up some rice, placing it in his mouth and then chewed. His eyes were still on her as she had wore a guilty and sad look. The same face that would make his uncle scold him and taken her side. He sucked his teeth, shifting his gaze away from her.

"Don't eat all the cutlets." Zuko warned, his chopsticks pointed at her threateningly as she had picked up another one since there was about ten left from the plate. She had eaten a large portion since the stack was smaller.

"Then what am I supposed to eat?" Noa whined as she dropped the picken cutlet back on the plate with her chopsticks, "Don't put me back on that veggie diet!"

The prince rose a brow, "That means that's all your eating for now."

"What?!" Her bottom lip had stuck out in a point, "But I'm still so hungry..." She had rubbed her stomach as she had looked at the culets with longing and sadness.

Shaking his head, he saw the door of the dining hall open as Iroh had walked in. "Ah, there you two are."

Zuko had then looked at Noa, his glare loudly telling her to 'fix her face'. Sighing, she had forced a smile on her face. "Good afternoon." She greeted Iroh, waving her free hand to him.

"Good afternoon, Noa. Are you having a pleasant meal?" He asked as he had taken a seat, taking the steaming fish that was meant for him.

Noa had looked to Zuko, he obviously didn't want her to tell that he had cut her off. With a mischievous grin, she had looked to Iroh which made his jaw set. "Oh, pleasant? Well, I wouldn't say pleasant..."

"What she means to say, that she can't get enough of these croquettes." Zuko chimed in, lifting the plate towards her. "Isn't that right, Noa?"

"Oh, yeah! These picken cutlets are ah-may-zinnnnnnng!" She grinned from ear-to-ear, placing all the cutlets on her plate.

Iroh had chuckled, "I'm glad you enjoy them. You have a healthy appetite."

"I know." She said in a matter-of-fact tone as Zuko rolled his eyes once again.

Seeing as how there was no changing the fox's appetite, he decided to let it go. For now. "Noa." he called her as she had looked at him, chewing a croquette. "After dinner, you'll have to use your ability to search for the avatar, since _nobody else_ knows where he is."

Iroh looked away, knowing that his nephew was referring to him. "Mm." She nodded, agreeing to it as she had ate another croquette.

"So, Noa, how come you never told us your name before?" Iroh had asked, "Then again... I don't think I've asked."

"You didn't." She had smiled, "Besides..." She had swallowed down her chewed food, "I liked you calling me young lady on the occasion."

He smiled. "Well, you indeed are and now that I know your name, it doesn't take away from that. It's just your name reminds me of this play I've seen a lot."

"Oh," She nodded, "Zuko told me about it. "Love Amongst the Dragons", right?"

He replied with a nod, "Yes. It was Zuko's mother favorite play."

Iroh had reminisced of Ursa, Zuko doing the same as he had began to eat his garnished fish. "Where is she? Isn't she in the Fire Nation?"

"No." Zuko answered instead of Iroh, "She was exiled."

The atmosphere became thick and heavy, and she had immediately blamed herself for it. "Oh..." She had muttered, "Anyway. I'm done eating."

Every cutlet of picken was gone, the whole plate cleared. Noa had patted her full stomach before picking up the warm raspberry tea. "Mm, I never had this flavor before!"

"You like it?" He had asked as she had nodded, "Good. It's pretty hard to find ripe raspberries in the markets. Usually the ones they sell are bad."

"It's delicious~" She had said with a smile as she had taken another sip, grinning from how the flavor wasn't strong but weren't weak either.

Zuko watched as she had lilt, her shoulders swaying as if she was listening to music. How she became so happy because of a simple sip of tea? He couldn't fathom. "Now I need you to find the Avatar, Noa."

With a nod, she had placed the cup down and looked at them both. "Keep it quiet." She had told them, Iroh nodding and Zuko giving a nod of confirmation too. Her eyes had fell close as she had breathed in and then exhaled, opening her eyes to reveal a shade of blue as her eyes saw behind them ship and vast ocean and searched for the avatar.

Her ears that were now opened to the world had twitched upon hearing his voice, "This island is named for Kyoshi? I know Kyoshi!"

Breaking out of the power, she had blinked several times and shook her head. "The Avatar is on Kysohi Island."

She furrowed her brows, her head tilting to the side. Was that Island there when she was in the physical world? Avatar Kyoshi had came many years after she was there, so that couldn't have been Kyoshi Island before.

With a nod, Zuko had stood. "Uncle, ready the rhinos. He's not getting away from me this time." And with that, he mentally began to prepare a strategy.

Noa had looked at the fish, which Iroh had his eyes on as well. Iroh looked at her as she had nodded and then looked to his nephew, "Are you going to finish that?"

With a scowl, Zuko walked back to the table and picked up his plate of fish off the table. "I was going to save it for later!" He said as he had walked out of the dining area.

Both Noa and Iroh had sighed, pouting. "Maybe next time..." She had tried to cheer him up.

Standing from her seat, Noa walked towards the dining area door. "Where are you going, Noa? Are you going to go with Zuko to Kyoshi Island?"

She stopped and looked over her shoulder, "I don't really like islands because it's surrounded by water... but I'm curious. I never heard of Kyoshi Island."

"You never heard of Kyoshi Island?" He questioned, his brow arched. "It's been around for centuries."

She shook her head, "Nope!" She had answered. "Anyway, I'll be with Zuko and the other helmsman, so it'll be okay."

Once the rhinos began to move, Noa's eyes had dilated from behind startled with how quickly their movements were. Quickly, she had grabbed the back of Zuko's shirt as they had made their way down the gangplank and onto the small island. Zuko had looked over his shoulder as she had looked around the island, her eyes scanning each and everything.

"There's a town up ahead." One helmsman had said, "We'll definitely find the Avatar there."

With a nod, all the soldiers and Zuko had made their way towards the town. The rhinos had moved quickly even though their steps were heavy, much too heavy for Noa's liking. She kept feeling like she was going to fall off and Zuko didn't tell her to cling and so she tried her best not to.

"I smell food." Noa had said as she had sniffed the air, "Oh... It smells so good..." She whined, biting down her bottom lip with her eyes closed as she had enjoyed the scent of the food from the village filling her nostrils.

"Noa," Zuko called her name, which made her open her eyes and look at him, "now isn't the time to be thinking about food."

Feeling embarrassed, she had let out a nervous laugh as then froze. "I definitely smell the Avatar. Mm, it's his scent. He smells...earthy!" She had smiled, "Zuko smells like fire while the Avatar smells like a forest."

His brows had furrowed his brow at his words, "Like fire?"

"Mm!" She nodded, "Kind of like a burning wood kind of smell. It smells nice, it's not too strong."

He had remained silent after her compliment, deciding to focus on the mission ahead. When they had entered the town, she had looked around to see that the streets were deserted. The different scents and the auras she could feel were all around, but there was not a single soul on the streets. "Come out, Avatar! You can't hide from me forever!" Zuko shouted, he then looked to his soldiers. "Find him."

Noa had looked in the direction in which the Avatar was, Zuko had followed her gaze as the helmsman had proceeded down the street of the village with caution but were unable to prepare themselves for the attacks that ensued.

Girls dressed in warrior-like outfits had appeared, katanas at their hips and gold fans in their hands. They wore such unusual makeup, which made Noa looked at them with curiosity. "Whoa, they are all girls. Girl group warriors? How cool!"

"Now isn't the time to be fascinated." He warned as one girl had then came speeding ahead at the them, but Zuko had turned his war rhino just in time so that she could be hit by it's tail. "Prove your usefulness and deal with her while I get the Avatar."

"Mm." Noa nodded, swinging her leg over and jumped down the saddle. She had seen a sword on the floor from one of the girl warriors and picked it up. "I'm kinda rusty with this thing though." She had puffed her cheeks and then looked to the girl who had attacked Zuko, "You should take it easy on me. I'm... I kind of lost my groove." The girl merely kept a stone-face, which made Noa frown. "...Well, I guess we can't be friends. Girls really should stick together."

"If that was so, you wouldn't be fighting for the enemy." Her opponent had said, placing her hand on her sword and unsheathing it form it's scabbard.

"I suppose you have a point, but your enemy isn't my enemy." Noa nonchalantly said as she had tightened her grip on the sword's handle. She had watched at the girl had cartwheeled towards her, pointing her sword towards her. Noa had already unsheathed her sword, tossing it in the air and twirled behind the Kyoshi warrior, and caught it and pointed menacingly behind her back. "Aw, that was too easy. This has to be fun."

She heard a growl rumble through the girl's throat, she had spun around and jumped back and charged for again. Noa had followed suit, jumping over the sword once the girl had swung the blade. Frustrated that she had missed again, she spun around and their swords had clashed this time, the noise echoing through the town.

Zuko had looked over his shoulder at the battle, surprised at Noa's swordsmanship. He didn't take her for using a sword or fighting at all. Noa had then flipped over the Kyoshi warrior, who attempted to stab her in the back, but was stopped by Noa's sword.

They went into a heated battle, the green-clad girl had blocked each of Noa's strikes while stepping back, defending herself. Noa had grinned as she had slashed repeatedly, pushing the girl back towards the wall of a nearby home.

When their swords clashed again, sparks had went flying through the air and the girl's sword was thrown from her hands and she had winced, expecting the sharp pain of the sword being thrust through her chest.

But it never came.

She opened one eye to see Noa throwing the sword on the ground, "That was pretty fun." She had looked at the girl and nodded, "You're skilled but you're not that dexterous. You should work on your sword skills so that we can fight again. Next time, we should go hand-to-hand maybe."

The Kyoshi warrior's eyes were wide as she had watched the strange girl walk away, make no intentions of coming back towards her. "Huh?" She managed to utter, looking down at her sword.

Sniffing around, she had looked in the direction where Zuko was. "I wanna see him fight again." She had said, "He looks so cool when he fights~"

When she found him, he looked to be searching for someone; probably the Avatar. Did he get away? She had ran over to Zuko, who had tilted his head back to see the bison flying through the air with the Avatar and his friends in the saddle. "Back to the ship! Don't lose sight of them!" Zuko ordered his men.

He had then looked to Noa, grabbing her arm and leading her back to the war rhino. She had blinked twice, allowing him to pull her along. She climbed up the rhino after Zuko and he made the rhino speed towards the ship, causing her to wrap her arms around so that she didn't fall of the rhino.

When they had entered the ship, Zuko had immediately jumped down from the rhino and made his way towards the fore deck of the ship, looking through a telescope to look for the Avatar. "He's getting away!"

But it was too late, the Avatar was too far away.

**. . .**

"So, Noa, where are you from?" One helmsman asked, a group of them all sitting together at the fore deck. "Well, I know we were in the Earth Kingdom when you joined us."

Noa had looked at them all, not sure how to answer that question. She couldn't tell them that she was from the Spirit World. "Uh, I'm from the Earth Kingdom. There like this place filled with firebenders."

"Oh, one of the colonies?" Another helmsman had said, nodding. "How is it like there?"

She gave a rather nervous smile, "Well.. It's nice and the people are nice. Everything is just nice there."

"Then why did you decide to join Prince Zuko?" Another queried, "I mean... You seemed like you had a good life."

A good life? She had looked down at her cup of white tea that Iroh had made for her few minutes prior to them seeing this as the opportunity to speak to her. "Mm, I was lonely." She had answered.

Zuko listened on from the side of the ship, his arms folded as she had listened to the conversation. "Lonely? Don't you have family?"

"No, I didn't have anything like that. Nobody raised me, I always lived alone." She answered, "There was this woman who was like a grandma to me that looked out for me but she wasn't really nice."

"Wow..." Hummed a helmsman, "That's why you jumped at the chance to leave home?"

The kyuubi took a sip of her tea and sighed, "Prince Zuko was kind of nice. He wasn't mean."

"What?" All of them had said in a unison, "What do you mean he was kind of nice?"

"Oh, like... He's the reason I was able to get away from that place. He saved me." Noa nodded, smiling. "So that means he's kind of nice, but even so... He doesn't treat me bad and he lets me eat a lot! He just doesn't like that I eat too much beef and pork."

"Oh, so it is true? General Iroh said you could eat a whole hippo cow!"

She had nodded her head quickly, "I loveeeeeeeeeee hippo cow! It's so good! Especially when it is grilled, it's great!"

All them men laughed at her enthusiasm, "You should come eat with us sometimes!"

"Yeah, it'll be nice to have a feminine presence." Another had said.

"It seems like Prince Zuko keeps you all to himself!" The one who gives her candy, Daiki, added.

"I didn't know I could eat with you all, I'm sure Prince Zuko wouldn't mind that. I never really asked him." Noa had tilted her head to the side,"But would you be mad if I ate all the picken and hippo cow?"

"No, it's fine. Some of these guys need to cut back anyway." One man added, now joining them.

All the helmsman around her had looked up, immediately standing. "L-Lieutenant Jee!" They had rose and bowed.

"Ah, I see here is the infamous Noa." The man said, giving her a genuine smile as he had outstretched his hand. "It is nice to meet you, I'm senior officer Lieutenant Jee."

Noa had looked at his hand curiously, unsure of what he wanted her to do with it. Seeing her confused expression, he had lowered his hand and placed it back at his side and bowed instead. She had done the same out of respect. "It's nice to meet you, Lieutenant Jee."

"We don't see you out much, I assume Prince Zuko kept you away from all these men, huh?" He asked her, which made her nod.

"It's not safe for a girl to be around a bunch of men." Noa said, "But Prince Zuko knows I am capable of handling myself. I just like tailing around him."

He had chuckled, "I see."

Zuko had then came out of hiding, walking towards the deck. Noa had looked over at him and blinked twice, wondering why he had finally made his way out. She could smell him from where he was and she figured he must've been surveying how the men would act in her presence. "I'm ready for training."

Two of the helmsman assigned had left the small group and walked over. "Did you get a full tour of the ship?"

"No." The fox had answered, "I've only been in a few places but this ship is really big."

"Indeed it is." Jee nodded,"But it's smaller compared to the other ships."

It had happened suddenly, the ship tilted to starboard and knocking Zuko's sparring partners off balance. "Someone's changing our course!"

The Prince had gone to investigate, leaving the sparring match. Noa had then shifted her attention back to Lieutenant Jee, "Why would someone change course?" She asked, "D-Did I eat all the meat again?!"

He shook his head with a smile, "I assume it was General Iroh. He's the only one that has that much authority."

"Oh," Noa blinked a few times, "then it must be important. Iroh would never intentionally anger his nephew."

Jee kept his smile but somewhat doubted her words. "Right."

"I'm pretty hungry though." Hanging her head, she sighed. "I tried my best to control myself from eating too much at breakfast but I felt like I didn't eat enough."

"If you keep eating like that, you just might break the chef." Jee had said, patting her head.

"Break the chef?" She repeated, "A-Are they tired and worn out because of my eating? I didn't know!"

Jee didn't answer but laughed and bowed again, "I have duties to attend to but enjoy yourself." Noa had nodded and then waved as he had walked across the ship's bridge.

Standing, she had then looked to the helmsman. "I'm going to look for Prince Zuko," She had waved and left the area.

She had walked down the hall, sniffing out his scent. When had pinpointed the exact location, she had walked towards the cabin and pressed her ear to the door. "Agni..." She had heard him mutter, "All for a stupid lotus tile? What about the Avatar?!"

Frowning, she had then forced herself to smile and entered the cabin. "Prince Zuko, I just met Lieutenant Jee today! He was really nice." She had then raised her finger, "Oh! And the helmsman think I should eat with them sometimes, but I wanted to know if that was okay with you."

He was still irritated about his uncle and this missing lotus tile for Pai sho. Though seeing how happy she was and how she was trying her best to avoid the subject that annoyed him, he thought he could cut her some slack. "I don't care." He simply put it.

"But that means we won't eat together." Noa had said, somewhat hoping he would've rejected the idea. "But I guess that means you don't have to worry about food going missing." She had then forced herself to laugh, "You just want all the food to yourself."

He rose a brow as she had her hands on her stomach, still laughing. It looked and felt forced but he dismissed it. Why would she force herself to laugh? "You can do whatever you want as long as you stick to your job. That's what I freed you for."

"Right." She nodded, "Well... I'll leave you be. You're probably gonna be studying your map, right? You're good at finding the Avatar even without me." With a bow, she had dismissed herself from the cabin and shut the door.

Zuko had stared at the door for a few minutes and then sighed, massaging his temples. "What's with her?" He asked himself, "She's acting weird."

He had then shook his head to clear his mind from it and then looked back at the door once again. Growing anxious, he had walked towards the door and opened in to see Noa walking down the as slowly as she could.

She was distracted, he could tell, but what about? Noa stopped and looked over her shoulder before fully turning around to look at Zuko. Now unsure of what to say or do, he had cleared his throat and walked forward. He had continued on, walking right past her.

Noa had spun around again, her frown growing as she had filled her cheeks with air. Her hands had curled into loose fists and placed them on her cheeks, playfully punching the air out of them. "Why is he being so distant?"

Unsure if he should follow him or not, she had stood in the hall in thought. She had looked up in the direction he went and then looked behind her towards the cabin. Maybe she should lay down and rest? She had liked naps even though she always believed she was going to miss something if shehad took one. It would be a while before they reached wherever they were going and so with a shrug, she had walked to the cabin and took a rest on her futon.

**o**

"Is she awake?" Noa could clearly hear that it was Iroh, both him and Zuko were outside the door. Her eyes were half open, a sleepy gaze there over them. "We just arrived at the pier and I wanted her to come with us. She might be good at finding the lotus tile."

"Uncle, I don't think Noa can find a lotus tile. Why are we looking for it again? Why is it so important to you?" His nephew questioned, still unable to fathom why they were going through these lengths for a piece of a game.

Iroh sighed, "I already told you." Noa stood and opened the metal door. Both of them had turned to look at her as she had rubbed her eyes, "You're awake? That's good."

She had nodded and then looked at them both. Her nose had then wiggled as she had sniffed the air, "We're at a pier? I smell foods and lots of people. So we're at a village."

"That's a very talented nose." Iroh said with a smile, "Would you like to join us."

Noa nodded quickly and followed Iroh, who had led the way while his nephew seemed to be dragging his royal feet.

Once they disembarked the ship, they had entered the village and Noa's nose was filled with so many smells. She could smell lots of fish, lots of scents of people, the ocean as usual, and other strange smells. She had squinted her eyes as she had tried to make sure that she didn't feel too overwhelmed.

All three of them had traveled to the market area with Noa ogling at everything strange she had seen. The clothes women had worn, the toys that the children had played with, and the smell of foods that she had never smelled before. "Wow, there's so much..." She had said in awe, not even paying attention to half of the things Iroh had brought.

"Noa, is there something you would like?" He asked her, "Oh! I know just the thing." He had then grabbed her arm, pulling her towards a shop that a woman merchant had owned. "Do you have any clothing that would fit her? Something red."

The woman smiled, "I know just the outfit!" She had looked through the clothing in the back before placing it in a box.

"I'll trust your judgment." Iroh had smiled and paid for it, handing the box to Noa. "You should try it on when we get back to the ship." Noa had nodded with a smile.

"Thank you." She had thanked him.

"It's something you needed. Don't think of it as a gift, but as me taking care of the only woman on the ship." He had patted her head as she had smiled. He knew that if she had seen it as a gift then she would try to return him the favor. Zuko had looked to Noa, noticing how her eyes had stared at the box. "You'll need shoes with that outfit!"

As they had followed Iroh around the marketplace, they had stopped by one area of the place. Noa had waited patiently, holding her clothes and shoes in a stack happily. Despite how many of the helmsman told her they would take it for her, she had refused. These things were hers and so she wasn't willing to lend them to anyone.

Zuko had seen the happiness on her face and kept looking around, wondering if he could get any clue if the Avatar had been there without Noa's help. He had then saw a shop that was selling a large variety of accessories. He had walked over and the one he noticed the most was the simple decorative chopstick with four bloomed cherry blossom. Zuko had inspected it and then looked to Noa.

He then placed it down, shaking his head. She didn't need that and he certainly wasn't going to give it to her. Still, when she had fought her hair was going to br a nuisance. It was pretty long and she would need to find a way to tame it.

Deciding that he would buy it for her benefits, he had bought the accessory and kept it close. The helmsman were watching, he couldn't give it to her at moment. He hid the item and walked towards Noa and Iroh. "Doesn't this place look promising?"

"It doesn't smell promising." Noa commented, her face scrunched up from the foul smell. "It smells like the people haven't bathed in months."

"They must be pirates then!" Iroh was even more excited, charging on ahead. Both Noa and Zuko sighed as they had followed after him, going inside the ship. "Ooo! That is handsome! Wouldn't it look magnificent in the gallery?" Iroh asked them as Noa had squinted her eyes.

"They were here." She sniffed the air twice, "The A-"

Zuko had clamped his hand over her mouth and then pressed his lips near her ears. "The Avatar, right?"

Blushing from how close in contact they were, her eyes were wide and face was growing hot and flushing a shade of red. "Mm!" She nodded.

The prince had let go of her and then walked towards what appeared to be the Pirate Captain and his barker."We lost the Water Tribe Girl and the little balkd monk she was traveling with."

"This monk," Zuko had walked close to them, "did he have an arrow on his head?"

All of them had shifted their attention to Iroh as Noa was laughing away at the old man's monkey impression. Zuko had sighed, slapping his palm against his face.

**o**

"Iroh, do you think it is a good idea to trust the pirates?" Noa had asked as she had adjusted the black band around her waist. When Zuko told them they would be traveling with the pirates, she decided to put on her new attire that Iroh had brought. It was a simple Hanfu, which consisted of a cherry red dress that had flowed down to her feet with a beet red over shirt, which had black sleeves, and a black band around her waist. Her hair was brushed back even though she had wanted it in a updo but she decided that this style was comfortable, at least for now.

Iroh had turned around and his eyes had widened, a grin sprouting from ear to ear. "Noa, this grown suits your so lovely." He had placed his hands on her face, making her look up at him. "Ah, we could've bought you some makeup."

"Make up?" She had sparked up.

"At least to paint your lips. I know girls in the Fire Nation love to color their eyelids and their lips, but I had forgotten." He sighed but then nodded, "But even so, natural beauty is even more splendid. You have such nice features."

"Thank you, Iroh. That means a lot." She fought not to blush out of the pouring of compliments he had given her.

He had smiled and then let go of her face, "But what is it that you asked me?"

"Do you think it is a good idea to trust the pirates?" She had asked him again, her eyes shifting to the floor. "I...I don't think it's a good idea. He could've just used me to find the Avatar, I'm great at finding him."

"Doesn't it tire you to use that power? It's a strong ability, too much of it must not be a good thing." He said, concerned about her health. "Also, won't your hearing be hurt if something loud would've happened? You can't keep taking that risk."

It didn't tire her, she knew that much but it did leave her hearing vulnerable. Since she was a kyuubi it would heal but it still would be painful and take it's time about healing too due to the severity. "You have a point." She nodded.

"Are you going to go see Prince Zuko?" Iroh had asked, "I'm sure he would like to see your new clothes."

"No." Noa quickly answered, "He's talking to the pirate captain and I don't want to be a nuisance."

Surprised, he watched as she had spun and walked down the smal and narrow hall of the cutter craft that they were using during their search for the Avatar. Sh had walked towards the deck, peering out to see Zuko and the pirate captain.

The sky was dark but there was a full moon in the sky. She had looked up and then stepped back, making sure the moonlight didn't hit her. If it did then her tails would show, and Zuko was the only one who knew her true nature. "Noa!"

Her eyes had widened as she had looked behind her to see Daiki. "You startled me, Daiki." She had smiled as she had walked towards him, making sure to stay next to the flame from the torch that had lit up the small hall.

"Sorry about that." He had then looked behind her at the open door that revealed the deck. "Were you going to get some fresh air?"

She quickly shook her head. "No, why would I do that? I don't really like seeing the ocean. I just tolerate it some times."

He nodded, his expression unknown to her due to his mask. "It shouldn't be scary since Prince Zuko is out there."

Zuko had turned to look over his shoulder, seeing Noa speaking to one of the helmsman. He had raised a brow, wondering what she was doing but then heard what sounded like a girl's voice that differed Noa's. He and the pirate captain looked at one another, knowing that it must've been the girl in the Avatar's group.

Noa turned to look at Zuko, who had stood next to herself and Daiki. "We found the Avatar, prepare the troops." He instructed Daiki, who bowed and then ran. Noa had then looked to Zuko, who had kept his focus fixated on her. "Shouldn't you be a little more careful?"

"I am." Noa had said, looking away from him even though his eyes were burning a hole in her face. "I can't go with you. The full moon is going to reveal me."

"I know." Zuko watched as she had looked at him briefly, cracking a small smile. "I'll stay here until the sun is up."

She began walking down the hall, his hands reaching in his inside pocket to feel the box with the chopstick. Sighing, he had followed her. "Here." He said.

She had turned around and looked at him and then down at the black box, "What's that?"

"Something to keep your hair from your face." Zuko explained, "It'll be difficult to fight with your hair. It will already be difficult in that dress."

Biting down on her lip, she had taken the box and opened it to see the one lone ornament chopstick. "Cherry blossoms?" Noa mumbled with a smile, she had then used the chopstick to hold her hair in a messy bun. She had smiled and made sure that it was secure that it wouldn't fall out. Seeing the excitement on her face, he looked away covering his hand with his mouth as he had nearly smiled. "Thank you, Prince Zuko." She had bowed politely.

He had looked at her and then averted his amber eyes, "Just don't lose it and cause trouble while you're here."

Noa had nodded, "I can eat as much as I want though, right? You'll be too busy to eat breakfast with me."

A deadpanned expression appeared on his face, "Is that all you think of? Food?"

Noa had looked up at the ship's ceiling in thought, her lips subconsciously puckered. "Uh, yeah. I think about food, a lot." She nodded and then smiled. "I'll eat for you and Iroh, so no extra food!" She had then turned around and ran down the hall.

He had sighed and shook his head.

**o**

When it was dawn, Noa had left the cutter craft and went on the land. At the river bank was Zuko and his men lined up facign each other while the girl in blue she had seen before as the Avatar's accomplice was tied to a tree while the pirates were tying up the blue clothed boy and the Avatar.

Zuko had turned to look at her, seeing the Avatar's group was eyeing her with distrust. She had walked over to Zuko and stood beside him, noticing the waterbending scroll in his hand that he used to blackmail the pirates.

But something was off, "What's going on?" She mumbled.

"Give me the boy." Zuko threatened.

"You give us the scroll." said the Pirate Captain.

They were having a stand-off? She had looked at her left at Zuko, wondering if the pirates hadn't figured out the monk's identity. "You're really going to hand over the Avatar for a stupid piece of parchment?!" The boy in blue had said, her question now answered.

The prince had pointed at him, "Don't listen to him! He's trying to turn us against each other."

"Your friend is the Avatar?" Noa sighed as the Pirate Captain was certainly interested, knowing that this was going to happen.

"Sure is, and I'll bet he'll fetch a lot more on the black market than that fancy scroll." The boy continued on.

"Shut your mouth, you water tribe peasant!" Zuko barked, Noa noticing that the monk and the girl didn't really understand the boy's plan.

The Avatar, uncertain of his friend's motives had chimed in. "Yeh," he agreed with Zuko to a certain extent, "Sokka, you really should shut your mouth..."

The boy known as Sokka had continued to speak in favor of being taken by the pirates, "I'm just sayin', it's bad business sense. Just imagine how much the Fire Lord would pay for the Avatar. You guys would be set for life!"

The captain had pointed at Zuko, "Keep the scroll! We can buy a hundred with the reward we will get for the kid."

Zuko's face had darkened as the pirates had nonchalantly tied to walk away with the three hostages, "You'll regret breaking a deal with me!"

Zuko and the helmsman had created a flame torrent towards the pirates, bathing the ground with and making them jump out of the way. Noa had fixated her eyes on the Avatar and Sokka, four pirates jumping in front of them to make sure they were secure.

Her eyes widened as they had dropped smoke bombs, covering the ground and sky with a continuous fog. Noa had then ran forward, making her way towards both of them. Aang and Sokka had looked up at her in fear but she had cut their bonds.

Both of them were surprised by her actions as she had helped them both up by pulling them up by their shirts. "Go." She said.

"Why are you helping us?" The Avatar asked her, "Don't you work for Zuko?"

Noa nodded, "I have my reasons."

"You really shouldn't stay with them, they aren't good people." Sokka had said, trying to convince her to leave Zuko. "You could come with us and we'll take you to somewhere safe."

A chuckle erupted in her throat, her hand over her mouth coyly. "I'm fine. I can protect myself. I'm not being forced to do anything I don't want to do." Sokka had frowned as she had pushed them, "Now go."

The boys had looked at one another and then ran, escaping the smoke as she had rushed towards a pirate, giving him a spinning kick to the head that rendered him unconscious. "Stupid, smelly pirates. I knew you weren't worth trusting."

She looked around, searching for Zuko and found him in an intense battle with the pirate captain. No ran over to them but Iroh broke it up, "Are you so busy fighting you cannot see your own ship had set sail?"

"We have no time for your proverbs, Uncle!" His nephew yelled in frustration.

Iroh had pointed towards the pirate ship sailing down the river, "It's no proverb."

"Bleeding hog-monkeys!" The pirate yelled, running down the river banks.

Noa chuckled as Zuko found himself laughing as well, but in that instance they had seen his ship following behind it and filled with pirates. One of them dared to pull their trousers down to moon them, in which Iroh had covered Noa's eyes just in time."That's my boat!" Zuko shouted, running down the river bank.

Iroh had uncovered Noa's eyes and then scratched his chin in thought, "Maybe it should be a proverb. What do you think?" He asked Noa.

"It sounds like a good one." She smiled, "It might need a little bit more... spicing up, but I think it's a good one."

"Noa!" They had looked in the direction of the voice, "Uncle, come on!"

Both had ran after Zuko, Noa didn't use her full speed and tried to run as humanely fast as possible. She had caught up with Zuko as they had watched the cutter nearing the pirate ship down the river. It had eventually rammed into it, which had lift the starboard side of the pirate ship out of the water, which damaged it greatly for the use the pirates made out of it.

They had vacated the ship and went back onto the bison as the pirate ship had fell down the waterfall but sadly, Zuko's cutter boat had followed behind it. "My boat!" Zuko yelled, Noa sighed and looked to Iroh who was huffing, panting heavily from the running.

When he had managed to catch his breath, he had stood up straight. "Hehe, Prince Zuko, you're really going to get a kick out of this." Both of them had looked at Iroh, "The missing lotus tile was in my sleeve the whole time!"

Noa had sighed heavily, shifting her focus away as Zuko had tried to control his temper through breathing as his uncle held the lotus piece. His nephew, however, had quickly snatched it away from him and threw it as far as he could.

Even though it wasn't right, she couldn't necessarily blame Zuko for doing it. The situation of finding and capture the Avatar could've been extremely different if they didn't let Iroh search for the tile. Noa had easily found it, knowing where it landed. "I'll go get it." She had said, leaving the both of them as Iroh had sulked.

Returning the lotus tile to Iroh, she had went to the cabin to see Zuko sitting on his bed with his arms crossed. He was still obviously angry by the turn of events and she couldn't necessarily blame him. So instead, she had sat next to him, giving him some distance. "What?" He spoke, looking at her from the corner of his eyes.

"Nothing." She shook her head, keeping a smile on her face. "It's just today is the first time I heard you laugh." Surprise was clear on his face, his arms unfolding and his hands resting on his thighs as he had turned to look at her. "It was nice."

"Why do you care?" Zuko asked her, wondering why she seemed so fond of him laughing.

Her head had slightly tilted to the side, "As a kyuubi I lived for over four-hundred years, and you've only lived for sixteen-"

"How did you know how old I was?" He immediately asked, disrupting his sentence.

Noa rose a brow, "Iroh told me. He asked how old I was before, he was comparing our ages."

"What did you tell him?" Zuko asked.

"I didn't tell him I was centuries-years-old. I said I was fifteen." She nodded, "I think I look fifteen, don't you think?"

Zuko had studied her for a few minutes. "I guess..." He had looked away.

"As I was saying before you disrupted me..." She had folded her hands on her lap and looked down at her hands. "I've lived for all the centuries and you've only lived for sixteen years. And in my life time, I have seen and experienced a lot of things but you, you're life is still essentially beginning. You need more laughs, you need to be happy more." She could tell by the look on his face that he was going to get angry but she continued on, "I know you're not happy now and I don't really know the whole reason but I know you feel like you have no reason to be but laughing once in a while can ease the pain."

Raising her hands, she had pressed them against his face and smashed his cheeks. "What are you doing?" He asked her, his brows knitted together as she had tried to stop herself from laughing. "Noa, stop it." She had then attempted to close his mouth together, making him speak incoherently. "Noghsa."

Noa laughed, her eyes closing tightly from laughing so hard before opening them again to laugh more at the face he was making.

His hands had grabbed onto her wrists, but he couldn't find himself to pry her hands away but instead she had watched his lips tremble before he had finally let out a fit of laughter. Her eyes had lit up on the sight, letting go of his face slightly as it continued for a few seconds before it died down. "See, that wasn't so bad."

A red scarlet stain appeared on his face, his eyes averted as he was too embarrassed to look at her in the face. "That's enough with the childish games." He said, clearing his throat as he had put on an austere act. "Playing around laughing isn't going to catch the Avatar or let me return home."

Zuko walked out of the cabin, leaving Noa to sigh deeply. Just when she thought she had closed the distance between them, he pushed her away again.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Sorry this chapter took me so long.

I decided to turn **o** to mean later on and this to mean the next day(s) or just indication that a day or a long time has passed **. . .**


	5. Chapter 5: Stepping Towards You

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or its characters, Michael Dante DiMartino Bryan Konietzko do!

* * *

Her hands had reached out into the air, a flock of birds flying down on the warm evening. It felt really nice outside despite the smell of an upcoming storm. It smelled like it was going to be a big one, which worried her since they were on a ship. The ocean was a humans-and this fox's-worse enemy. Noa's eyes then traveled to Zuko as he was looking out of the telescope, "There is as storm coming. A big one." Noa had looked at Iroh, surprised he knew as well.

"You're out of your mind, Uncle. The weather's perfect. There is not a cloud in sight." His nephew disagreed as he had lowered the telescope.

"The storm is approaching from the north. I suggest we alter our course and head southwest." Iroh continued on, which made Noa frown since Zuko didn't want to follow safety precautions.

"He's right, Prince Zuko." Zuko had looked at them both, "This storm is coming from the north and it's not one that will just easily pass over."

Their words had still traveled in one ear and out the other, "We know the Avatar is traveling northward, so we will do the same."

"Prince Zuko, consider the safety of the crew." Iroh had warned.

"The safety of the crew doesn't matter!" His nephew yelled, Noa's eyes widening as Lieutenant Jee and the crewmembers had heard what he said. Zuko's eyes went up in concern briefly, Noa had caught it, and then he had walked up to Lieutenant Jee. "Finding the Avatar is far more important than any individual's safety."

The fox had sighed as Zuko entered the ship, shutting the door behind him while Iroh and Noa approached Jee."He doesn't mean that he's just all worked up."

Noa had bowed, "Prince Zuko treasures you all. You all have been with him all this time, it's just finding the Avatar is very important to him that he sometimes spurs out things that he doesn't really mean."

Iroh had looked at Noa in surprise, Jee as well. "You and Prince Zuko are getting quite chummy, huh?"

She stood straight and gave a confused expression, "It's just I know that wanting something to the point of obsession can make someone behave in a way that they don't intend to. He's taking this really hard..."

Iroh wondered if Zuko had told her why he was forced to search for the Avatar. She looked up at Iroh, "Let's play Pai sho." She had placed her hand on his arm.

"I'll go make us some tea first." He had left her briefly and then look at Jee. "I want to be closer to Prince Zuko but it's rather difficult."

In all honestly, the lieutenant was shy about how honest she was being with him. "Do you like Prince Zuko?"

"Huh?" She blinked twice, "I like him. I like everyone."

He smirked and chuckled slightly, "I meant-"

Iroh had returned, "I forgot to ask. What kind of tea would you like? Oolong? Gingseng? Jasmine? Anything else?"

"Uh, the tea with the flower." She had said, "The one you said someone loved a long time ago."

"Chrysanthemum tea?" He said, "The white one." He nodded before walking back in the ship, closing the hatch.

"What were you saying, Lieutenant Jee?" She asked, looking at him curiously.

The man smile and shook his head, "Nothing." He had then placed his hand on her shoulder, "You're a good kid is all."

She had blinked a few times as he walked away, a pout forming. "I'm not a kid." She huffed as she had walked towards the area of the Pai sho table, taking a seat while waiting for Iroh and the tea.

When he had returned, he had placed his cup on the low table and then placed hers. "Thank you for defending Zuko." He told her with a smile, "Zuko can be very difficult in defending, especially when he is wrong."

Noa had picked up the tea, blowing lightly on the beverage's surface before taking a sip. The small flower in the tea had tickled her upper lip as she continued to drink before she placed it back down. "I still don't know Prince Zuko very much, but I feel like he has a good reason to be as he is even if it can grate on someone's nerves."

The ex-general had smiled, nodding. "That is true."

As they continued on with the game, the crewmen had remained on the deck with Lieutenant Jee. Occasionally, Noa would look at him and then out into the distance as the clouds were beginning to become dark. The ship was definitely going towards the storm, which she grew fearful of.

Her eyes then went back to the game board, noticing that Iroh didn't make his move just yet and was in thought for a few seconds before moving a tile in one space, creating a two-tile harmony.

Noa had picked up her jasmine tile and captured Iroh's rose tile. "Good move." He nodded as she had smiled. "You're getting the hang of it."

The hatch had then opened, Zuko now walking on the deck. This wasn't a good sign. "Uh!" Jee hummed, "Looks like your uncle and Noa was right about the storm after all."

"Lucky guess." Iroh had said, trying to diffuse the situation. "Right Noa?"

"Uh..." She had nodded, "yeah."

It still didn't stop Zuko from being offended as he began walking over towards the older man. "Lieutenant, you'd better learn some respect," he pointed two fingers against the man's chest, "or I will teach it to you."

Noa frowned as she watched Zuko walk past him. She had stood up, noticing the look on the lieutenant's face. He seemed to be unable to take the jab lightly, and unable to hold back. Iroh tried to stop him, making a decapitation motion with his hand but it didn't help in the slightest. "What do you know about respect? The way you talk to everyone around here, from your hard working crew to your esteemed uncle, and this girl you've taken hold of for her powers," Zuko had stopped walking in mid step, "shows you know nothing about respect. You don't care about anyone but yourself! Then again, what should I expect from a spoiled prince?"

The prince's eyebrow had twitched in agitation, and he quickly spun around and assumed a firebending stance, Jee following suit. "Easy now." Iroh had said, holding his hands up and bring them down in a calming gesture.

Zuko and Jee's hands crossed at the wrist, which only meant that battle would ensure. Noa had ran over, placing her hands on both of their forearms. Their eyes had left each other and went to her, "Please," She calmly told them, "enough."

"We are all a bit tired from being at sea so long. I'm sure after a bowl of noodles everyone will feel much better." Iroh said, helping Noa diffuse the situation.

They had taken a moment to glare each other down, then both turn and walk away in opposite directions. Noa had looked in the direction of Zuko, watching Iroh walk over to calm him.

She then looked in the direction of the lieutenant and decided to make peace with him first. "Lieutenant Jee, I apologize for speaking out of line. I hold no rank on this ship, how could I give you an order." Her bow was deep to show her sincerest apologies.

Jee had smiled and patted her back, in which she had then stood. "You had nothing but the best intentions; I told you before, you're a good kid."

Noa smiled as well, giving a short bow in thanks for praising her once more. Her eyes looked in the direction of Zuko, who was walking to the bow. She had walked over as Iroh gave her a look of warning, which meant Zuko was still heated.

When she finally approached him, she gave him a deep bow. "I apologize, Prince Zuko, for my actions." He turned to look at her, surprised at her apology. "This is your ship and I have no rank or authority to stop you."

"As long as you know." Zuko had said as she had stood and looked at him, sighing in relief that he didn't break into an angry outburst. The clear skies were now filled with storm clouds, black and dreary.

Deciding not to push her luck, she had turned to leave and walked over towards Daiki. "Do you have some candy?" She asked him, "I could really use some right now."

"Why? Are you feeling down? Does the rain make you feel sad as well?" He had asked her, "Me and the crew were just about to eat, would you like to join us?"

"Eat?" Her eyes had widen, "Ohhhhh... Eating is even better."

Daiki had laughed and patted her shoulder, leading her towards the room that few of the crewman gathered to eat. The table was filled with food, her mouth watering at the sight of grilled beef. "Noa is joining us today, guys, so make sure she gets all the hippo cow."

Noa clapped her hands, "Really? All of it?! I'm so glad." She sighed happily as she had looked at the large stacked plate of grilled hippo cow. "Oh... it smells and looks so good."

Lieutenant Jee, who was also in the helmsmans and crew room had smiled before taking a sip from his cup. She had filled her bowl full of meat, sighing happily as she chewed. "To be honest, I'm sick of taking the prince's orders and I'm tired of chasing his avatar." Noa had looked at Jee as he placed his cup down. "I mean who does Zuko think he is?"

"Do you really want to know?" A voice had came out of nowhere, Noa nearly choked on the grilled meat when she realized it was Iroh. She didn't want him to think that she was in some conspiracy, but he smiled at her to reassure her that he knew better.

The lieutenant and three other crewmen, plus Daiki, had stood in respect. "General Iroh! We were just–"

"It's ok." Iroh rose his hand in acceptance, "May I join you?"

"Of course, sir." Lieutenant Jee had said, surprising Noa of how he was behaving.

Iroh had sat down with them, stroking his beard before he began to speak. "Try to understand, my nephew is a complicated young man. He has been through much..." He began to explain why Zuko was banished from the Fire Nation and how he had gotten the scar on his face.

The fox had listened on and was unable to finish the bowl of meat. She had placed the bowl down as he began to speak, Iroh's head had lowered. "After Zuko's outburst in the meeting, the Fire Lord became very angry with him. He said that Prince Zuko's challenge of the general was an act of complete disrespect, and there was only one way to resolve this..."

Noa had looked at Jee, who wore an terrified expression. "Agni kai. A fire duel."

Her eyes had widened, remembering what an Agni Kai was and experienced one not too long ago between Zuko and Commander Zhao. "That's right. Zuko looked upon the old general he had insulted and declared that he was not afraid. But Zuko misunderstood. When he turned to face his opponent, he was surprised to see it was not the General. Zuko had spoken out against a general's plan, but by doing so in the Fire Lord's war room, it was the Fire Lord whom he had disrespected. Zuko would have to duel his own father."

"When Prince Zuko saw that it was his father who had come to duel him, he begged for mercy..." He explained the horrifying detail of Zuko apologizing to his father, refusing to fight him and begging for forgiveness. Noa had felt her eyes stinging with tears, her eyes looking down at her lap as she had now knew that Zuko's scar was from his beloved father.

"I always thought that Prince Zuko was in a training accident..." Jee had said, abashed.

"It was no accident. After the duel, the Fire Lord said that by refusing to fight, Zuko had shown shameful weakness. As punishment he was banished and sent to capture the Avatar. Only then could he return with his honor." Iroh explained to them, nodding slightly.

Noa had felt horrible and most of all, selfish. She had let the Avatar go during the time they had teamed up with the pirates because she was afraid that she wouldn't be able to continue to be beside him if he had caught the Avatar. And the Avatar... capturing him meant so much to Zuko. "So that's why he's so obsessed. Capturing the Avatar is the only chance he has of returning things to normal."

"Things will never return to normal. But the important thing is, the Avatar gives Zuko hope." Iroh then looked to Noa, seeing a few tears escape the corner of her eyes. She had then stood, making everyone look at her as she had walked out of the room and went towards the deck of the ship, Zuko was soaked by the rain.

Her vanilla gold eyes had watched him for a few minutes, her from becoming wet from the pouring rain that acted as if it wouldn't cease. Zuko had turned around and seen her, noticing a very strange look on her face. She had seemed upset, that much was obvious.

"Noa." He had said her name, "Did something happen?" Before he could ask her if she was okay, she had ran towards him and curled her arms around him in a tight embrace. His eyes had dilated as her hands had grabbed handfuls of his grey tunic under his armor. He could hear her crying, her body trembled with each sob as it was muffled against his armor.

His hands had hovered over her, unsure of what to do in the situation. His right hand had place itself on her back, patting her twice before just resting there, unsure if he should keep patting her or not. His eyes had narrowed, wondering if one of the helmsman had upset her or Jee for that matter.

Her face remained pressed to his shoulder, unable to tear herself away. _'...You could've had the Avatar... I could've caught him for you, but... I only thought about myself.'_ Noa thought to herself as she knew she was too much of a coward to tell him, afraid that he would hate her.

They both had jumped, startled when lightning at struck the ship's bridge. Instinctively, Zuko had held close to him as her eyes had widened in fear. All the crew men had came running out, Jee as well as the ship began to wave from the ocean waters that refused to be calm.

Zuko kept her close, trying to maintain balance as the ocean water had drenched the deck and them as well, repeatedly. Knowing her fear of the ocean, he just assumed that she was scared and was crying over the storm. "Where were we hit?" Zuko had asked them, Noa had pulled herself away from him and tried to focus on the situation at hand.

"I don't know!" Jee had said.

"Look!" Iroh pointed towards the bridge tower. There was a helmsman hanging off some of the ringing.

"The helmsman!" Zuko had ran towards the external ladder up towards the bridge area, Jee behind him. Iroh had looked to Noa, who had watched them.

He had placed his hands on her shoulder. "Are you better Noa? I wasn't sure how you would take the truth of Zuko's banishment and scar."

He had then sensed another lightning strike, and he had bend the lightning away from his body, away from the men trying to rescue the helmsman, and forced it to strike to the ocean water. He was smoking and confused, but he was not injured.

Zuko caught the helmsman who had almost fell, Jee helping him to lift the man up and onto the floor. Seeing as everyone was safe, Noa sighed in relief and walked inside the ship, leaving Iroh to worry and Zuko to look in Iroh in confusion but to also worry about the fox.

They had gone through the eye of the storm, the ship now stabilizing in sail do the ocean's currents calming. Zuko had even spotted the Avatar, but chose the safety of his crew over the Avatar. "Uncle, I am sorry." He apologized for his earlier actions.

Iroh smiled and placed a hand on his nephew's shoulder, "Your apology is accepted."

"I have to check on Noa, she was acting weird." Zuko explained.

Iroh nodded, "I told her about your scar and banishment." His nephew had froze in place, reflecting on the past himself. "She was in tears and I am assuming she felt sad and wanted to comfort you."

"She pitied me?" He questioned.

His uncle shook his head, "I believe she couldn't imagine how it must've felt to have a family and then lose it and having one way to get it back, and how desperate you are to get your life back. She did say she didn't have one, right? I'm sure if she had a family and had the chance, she would do the same."

His nephew's expression had softened as he had looked at the hatch. "I should go see her." He left the bow of the ship and went inside the hatch, going inside the ship, down the hall and towards the cabin to see Noa in her old clothes and drying her hair.

He realized that he was soaked as well but he decided to pay much attention to that. "Noa, are you feeling better?"

Her eyes had slowly looked up at him and then looked down, unable to hold contact with his. "Mm." She nodded, "I'm fine."

"Iroh told me that you know about my banishment and scar." Noa had looked back up at him, "You wanted to comfort me. I don't need any comforting, I just need the Avatar and everything will be right again."

Noa had curled her right hand into a fist, knowing that he meant right again would be back in the Fire Nation and she was sure that she couldn't follow him there; no matter how close Zuko was, he was still very far away. "Yeah.." Noa stood and then walked over to the futon, "I'm going to sleep." She had announced to him, not really worrying about her wet and stringy hair. Zuko had frowned as she had laid down, placing the blankets on top of her form. He stared at her for a few minutes before leaving the cabin, deciding to give her peace.

When Zuko had left the room, she raised her hand to see the chopstick that he had given her. "Am I getting too attached?" She had asked herself, "All we have to do is capture the Avatar and after he is all healed, I'll take my bead back and go back to the Spirit World, where I belong. As long as Zuko is happy and well, that's all I can really hope for..." She had clenched her teeth, but her bottom lip had still trembled and tears had continued to spill out of her eyes.

**. . .**

Early in the morning, a herald had given Zuko a letter that explained that due to Zhao's promotion to Admiral and that capturing an Avatar became a prime importance, he had to give any information about the Avatar to Zhao. Of course, Zuko didn't tell anything since he didn't ask her for the Avatar's whereabouts and Jee and the other crewman couldn't even find a trail. Noa had kept her distance from Zuko, not sure if he was in the right frame of mood and she wasn't sure if she was herself.

All the distance and realizing her mistake of freeing the Avatar had made her want to stay away from him. There was times where she had tried to figure out a plan to leave and try to return to the spirit world. She could always wait when he was asleep to take the fox bead, but since he hadn't fully recovered she couldn't find it in her heart to want to go through with the plan.

So instead, she watched him from afar and pretended to be sleep whenever he was in the cabin. She still ate, forcing herself to nowadays but she didn't want to make her actions seem very obvious. She had looked through the halfway opened hatch to see him firebending on the foredeck. Iroh had walked over to him, speaking to him. "Is everything okay? It's been almost an hour and you haven't given the men an order."

"I don't care what they do." Zuko answered as he had ceased his practicing and stared out into the sea.

"Don't give up hope yet. You can still find the Avatar before Zhao." Iroh urged on, not wanting to see his nephew give up.

Noa's eyes had lowered, a frown adorning her face. "How, Uncle? With Zhao's resources It's just a matter of time before he captures the Avatar. Noa finds him for me but he just seems to slip out of my grasp each time I have him. Why should I keep wasting her time and mine?" He had turned back out to sea, "My honor, my throne, my country, I'm about to lose them all."

Her eyes had became glassy all over again and she forced herself not to cry. Tilting her head back, she tried to stop the tears and wiped her eyes. "Noa?" She had forced herself not to look in his direction.

"Lieutenant Jee," She had forced a smile on her face and turned to look at him, "how are you?"

The man had frowned, "Are you well? The helmsman said you were acting quite strange lately."

"Strange?" Noa repeated, "I've been acting the same."

"You don't eat as much, you've been avoiding Prince Zuko and General Iroh, and sleeping a lot more than usual." Jee had listed, making her look down at the floor. "If there is something wrong, never be afraid to tell me. At least talk to General Iroh. You're the sunshine of the ship. We haven't had as many laughs and smiles then we had when you joined us."

His words did cheer up, not by a lot but it was still something. "Thank you, Lieutenant Jee. I just haven't been feeling well and I kind of miss home. I get homesick sometimes."

Jee nodded understandingly, "I know what you mean. I've been out in sea for such a long time, I wonder if my wife even remembers my face."

Noa shook her head. "Don't think like that. I'm sure your wife thinks of you when she wakes up in the morning until she goes to sleep at night. You are her first and last thought, don't think she doesn't think about you. No matter how much time goes by."

"That's the Noa we miss," he had pinched her face, making her puff her cheeks. "Cheer up and thank you, it makes me feel even more confident in seeing her again."

Lieutenant Jee opened the hatch and closed it half way like it was before. Noa had sighed and then walked down the hall, going back towards the cabin. "If I look for the Avatar and capture him myself and bring him here then maybe that'll make everything right. I can leave without feeling guilty about what I did anymore."

How could she leave the ship? It seemed like an impossible idea. Just because she was a nine-tailed fox, it didn't mean she could fly and she most certainly couldn't swim the ocean. Shaking her head, she had went back to the cabin and lied down on the futon, pressing her face into the pillow. "...I'm a horrible person."

The cabin door had opened, Iroh peeking in. "Prince Zuko is taking a little trip. I wanted to know if you wanted to join us for music night."

Looking up at Iroh, she shook her head. "I'm pretty tired so I'm going to sleep. Tell Prince Zuko to be safe for me."

He sighed and then opened the door, closing it behind him. "Noa, has something been troubling you? You have been acting oddly these past few days and you're worrying everyone."

"If I tell you, would you be angry with me?" Noa had asked, wanting to get her feelings of her chest instead of bottling it up inside.

Iroh nodded and then sat on the edge of Zuko's bed, patting the space next to him for her to sit down. Noa sat beside him, her hands in her lap. "Remember when we joined up with the pirates and they had the Avatar bound?" The man nodded, "I had the Avatar right in my hands, right in front of me... But I let him go."

The general had looked at her in surprise, "Did you have a reason? Did you not want to capture the Avatar?"

Noa kept her head lowered, "I felt like if Prince Zuko had captured him then that means we'll have to separate. I felt scared that everything would end."

His eyes had softened, his hand atop of her head. "You've grown attached to Zuko, haven't you?"

The kyuubi nodded her head. "I love being here with all of you and I felt like the day we capture the Avatar... I'll have to say goodbye and I don't want to." Tears had threatened to fall, "But every time I see Prince Zuko, he's just hurt. He misses home so much and he could've gone home if I just-"

Iroh had pulled her into a hug, letting her cry on his chest. He had gently rubbed her back to calm her and letting her vent out her guilt through crying. "You've been sitting with this on your chest. I know it must've been difficult for you."

Noa had shaken her head, moving herself away. "It isn't about me. I should've told him but I couldn't do it. I keep thinking about myself when I should be thinking about him...The Avatar is the key to his happiness."

"Beating yourself up is not going to change anything." Iroh had rested his hand on her back, giving her another comforting pat.

"I deserve to feel like this." Noa nodded, "I did something selfishly and I should pay for it but I won't feel better and I can't forgive myself unless I tell Prince Zuko the truth."

He could tell that she was set on the idea of telling his nephew the truth, which was the right thing but he had feared the reaction she might get it. Despite knowing how Zuko could feel about it, she knew that she couldn't hide about it forever or else she would feel the weight of guilt become heavier on her back and shoulders. "How about you join us in music night? It'll ease your mind some."

Her eyes had looked away from space and then to Iroh, a small smile on her face. He was going to be adamant about it and she was also curious if the music of the physical world had changed as well. "Mm..." She slowly nodded.

Iroh clapped his hands together, his smile large. "Great! I'm sure the crew is getting prepared for what they'll do. Can you play an instrument? Sing?"

Noa had shaken her head, "I'll just watch."

Taking the answer without so much of a fight, he stood and left the cabin. Noa had sighed heavily and then placed her hands on her face, sinking her face further in her hand. "...I wonder where he went..." She pondered, "Did he go looking for the Avatar?"

Looking towards her left, she had looked at the spot that Iroh had left and remembered when Zuko had sat there, smushing his face together in attempts to make him laugh. She had smiled at the thought and then looked down at her hands, her thumbs fiddling together as she had remembered the memory.

Standing, she had exhaled to relieve herself from the burning sensation in her chest. Her feet had slowly led her towards the door, her eyes staring down the floor until she had reached a good space from the door and herself. Her hand had rested on the metal door, contemplating if she could enjoy herself and not worry Iroh and the helmsman.

Chewing her bottom lip, she had closed her eyes for a few more seconds before opening the door and leaving the cabin. Noa had walked traipse fashion towards the deck of the ship, hearing the sound of the merry men and the music that seemed to echo. They had sounded so happy, so lively and she felt she was going to ruin it with her presence.

Placing her hands on her face, she had moved the corner of her lips upwards to make herself smile. She wanted to hold the expression and to make sure it didn't falter. Still, it didn't mean that it would be believable since she wasn't actually expressing it natural but she was a kyuubi; foxes were masters of deception! She could fool them, it was simple. Easy as pie!

Opening the hatch, she had walked into the festive atmosphere and looked around at the men, who had turned to look at her while keeping their smiles. It was easily seen that they were surprised, not expecting her to show but Iroh didn't hold that surprise in his eyes and she had wondered why. "You've come to join us?" Jee asked Noa, who had nodded her head.

"Mm." The fox had nodded, "It sounds like fun and besides, I love music. I want to hear more." It was a rather honest response, she was curious as to how much music had changed over these past centuries.

"You've made it just in time to see Lieutenant Jee's performance. He will be singing a love song." Iroh had spoke up, the lieutenant had a twinge of red rising across his face.

With a smile, she had folded her hands. "Is it for your wife, Lieutenant Jee?"

The man's blush had darkened in color, making him even more flustered. "Ahem, of course. But it's a song that my family truly holds dear."

Noa had walked towards Iroh, standing beside him as he had stood in front of the helsman as the fire from the barrel had made sure he could be easily seen during the night. "I'm glad you showed up." Iroh whispered.

Noa cracked a smile but continued to keep her eyes on Jee. "I had nothing better to do other than make myself feel worse than I already felt."

Iroh had nodded, knowing her words were true. "Will it really make you feel better to tell Zuko the truth?"

"You may rest in my hands as I watch over you tenderly. I remember about you, how you laughed, how you cried, how you got angry. I will never, ever forget about you, until my life is exhausted." Jee had sang, everyone quiet save for the two men who had beaten the beaten the drums and while the other played the flute.

The rhythm of the drum was soft while the flute was high-pitched and flowing, almost like wind. Noa could tell by the expressions on Jee's face that he had very much melted himself into the song. His face wasn't devoid of emotion but instead full of it. "You were definitely by my side back then. At all times, at all times, at all times, you were laughing right next to me. Even if I lose you, I'll recover you, I will never leave you."

The vixen smiled wanly, clapping her hands as Jee had kept the note of the song, keeping it strong. Her eyes had softened, realizing the lyrics had hit a little close to home. Iroh and the other helmsman had clapped heavily, smiling from ear to ear while receiving some whistles and shouts as well.

"I wish I had a girl back home." One helmsman had sighed, "Lieutenant is lucky to have a wife."

"Heh, yeah." Daiki laughed, "I guess there's always something romantic about being away and knowing there's someone who loves you and is waiting for you. Their heart doesn't stray either, it still waits. Patiently."

Her eyes had focused on Daiki, registering his words. The men had already moved on to the next song, praising Jee's singing voice while awaiting for the next performer.

After Jee's song, there were three other performances. Everyone had showed their musical abilities but none of them seemed to dance, which was quite odd. She had remembered the Fire Nation for being very much in love with music and dance, and she wondered why that had changed.

"I think I might call it a night, Iroh." Noa said while rubbing her eyes.

"But you haven't touched a single drop of food." Iroh spoke while his mouth full of food.

She had smiled but shook her head, "I'm not hungry."

Everything had stopped. The music, the chatter. it was silent. All of them had turned to look at her, her eyes looking down at the floor. ""Y-You're not hungry?" The former general repeated, shocked as everyone else.

"No. I don't have an appetite." She bowed and had then turned to leave, opening the hatch and making her way inside the ship.

"...This really must be eating her up inside." He mumbled as he continued to eat his roast duck.

Once Noa reached the cabin, she had turned to close the door behind her but was stopped. Her eyes had dilated slightly as she had looked up to see that it was Zuko. "P-Prince Zuko," The look written all over his face made her know that he didn't want to talk, no matter how happy and yet dreadful she had felt at seeing him.

"I'm going to bed." He quickly said, walking towards the bed and then lying down while folding his arms.

Hearing the metal door shut, she had sighed and then turned to look at him. "You saw the Avatar, didn't you?"

Zuko was slightly surprised but he figured that she could smell the Avatar's scent on his clothes. Her nose was keen enough. "I said I'm going to bed."

"And yet, you're still awake." Her eyes had studied his brooding expression, noting how he had set his jaw as she kept her eyes focused on him and him alone.

"So what if I found him? He's not here, is he?" Zuko said under his breath, knowing very well she could hear him clearly but feeling his pride's wound grow even deer.

She knew he was becoming irate but she wanted him to unload his anger, even if it meant he had to take it out all on her. She deserved his lashings. "You let him go?"

Silence. It was completely silent. He didn't move nor did he utter a word, but she could feel heat emanating off him. She was pushing it but she still believed she deserved it.

The prince had nearly thrown himself off his bed and walked over towards her, his eyes looking like they would set her on fire alone as he had glowered. His hand was pressed to the door, her back pushed against it as she could feel his breath against her skin.

The aura about him was much more intense then she had took it for seconds ago. It felt like steam was coming out his breath, no she was sure it was steam or smoke. "I'm not faulting you." Noa continued on, "You had a reason and I'm sure that you thought over it well."

Clenching his teeth and nearly clawing his hand through the door, he kept his eyes on her form. "Why do you care? It's annoying."

Her eyes had widened slightly, she then recovered and closed her eyes as she had tried to calm herself. "Because I'm guilty of the same thing."

"What?" His brows had knitted together, his eyes showing their confusion as his frown had somewhat deepened. "What are you talking about?"

"At the incident with the pirates, I had let the Avatar go. Right when there was so much smoke, I had sniffed them out easily and when I found him I had let him go." Noa couldn't find herself to say why, she felt too frightened to.

She had opened her eyes, daring to look up at him to see him staring at everything but her. "It wouldn't have mattered. The waterbender found herself free and the pirates were a nuisance. There was no way we could've caught him."

Why was he suddenly being reasonable? She was bug-eyed, unsure of what caused the sudden shift in personality. "But I could've easily dragged him back in the smoke-"

"They still had my ship, they could've sailed off with him." Zuko countered.

Why wasn't he letting her take the blame? Why wasn't her going to let her hate herself while she was around him? "But I-"

"I let the Avatar go because he saved my life when he didn't have to," He reported, "and so I let him go this time."

She peered at him as he had already let his hand slip from the wall and faced his back to her. "What happened? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." He quickly answered, "Don't dote on me."

"I'm not asking because I want to do dote on you, I'm asking you because you have my bead and if it were taken from you then-"

"It's still inside me." Noa sighed in relief at his answer, she had even walked around him and faced him. Her hand had pressed to his chest, searching for the bead when she had found it near his heart, she had rubbed the area.

His hand had watched her small hand rub his chest in slow, small circles and he could feel the bead warm up at her touch. He was able to fight the blush off his face and kept a very inscrutable expression. "How did the Avatar save you?"

"Zhao had caught him." The prince replied, "I tailed him down and tried to escape with him out of there..."

Instead of questioning him more, or letting him finish explaining so that he could wallow in his mistakes, she nodded to tell him that she understood and that she would let the conversation end right there. "I understand. You should get some rest, you look tired."

He was surprised by his actions, figuring she was going to interrogate him more. He had then seen the smile on her face as her hand had slid off his chest and went back to her side. "You'll be completely healed soon and then I can take the bead back. I'll still complete my contract."

Noa had sashayed to the futon and laid down, getting herself comfortable as she had pulled the blankets over her shoulder.

Her ears had picked up his movements, hearing him lay back down on his bed. "Noa," he said under his breath, "thank you."

**. . .**

"Prince Zuko, there's a new moon tonight." He listened but continued to lay on his bed. "The Avatar is going to the North Pole for a waterbender teacher, right? I guess the girl with him hasn't mastered it either. Well, that kind of showed every time we faced them." Noa had mumbled the last bit, nodding her head.

"He has to learn water then earth and fire." The boy had replied, engaging in conversation much to her surprise. She was sure he wasn't listening but he had proved her wrong.

"I figured he mastered them all already but I guess something stopped him from doing so." Noa shrugged and then listened to the sound of instruments being placed from the deck of the ship. There was drums and the beautiful strings of the Pipa being strummed.

Her eyes continued to look through the small, circular window of the cabin and out at the sky as the waning, almost new moon was showing. "Prince Zuko," Zuko had sighed as she had called his name again.

"What?" He had answered.

"Do you believe in fate or destiny?" She questioned, "Do you think it was your destiny to be exiled, capture the Avatar, and come back with new and restored honor to the Fire Nation?"

He was thinking she was going to ask him something simpleminded but he was indeed surprised that it wasn't. "It is."

Noa had looked away from the window and then towards Zuko, "You don't think you can shape your own destiny?"

"Capturing the Avatar and returning home is my destiny since birth." Zuko had said, keeping his arms folded. "I don't see where I need to shape it. The one already given to me is the one I want to complete." Not wanting to argue, she had given him a smile. "What now?"

"I'm kind of hungry." Noa laughed nervously, "I didn't eat much."

"what do you mean you didn't eat much? You ate all day yesterday." Zuko massaged his temples as he heard her whine and stomp her feet. "What is with your constant need to eat?"

"My stomach is different from a humans, that's why." Noa answered, fiddling with her fingers as she had pouted. "Our diets are completely different."

He scoffed, "Like I didn't know that already."

Noa huffed, her cheeks puffed up as she had felt offended. "How come you won't play the tsungi horn?"

"Because I don't want to." He had said, closing his eyes.

Before she could question why, she had looked towards the direction of the deck. Her ears had twitched slightly and she had sniffed the air, "Sounds and smells like trouble."

Opening one eye, he had looked at her quizzically. "What do you mean? What's happening?"

"It's Admiral Zhao." Noa answered.

The door at the far end of the cabin had opened, Zuko slowly sitting up from his bed before standing. "I'm take your crew." Zhao announced.

"What?!" Zuko yelled, now standing on his feet.

A smirk appeared on the admiral's face, making Noa's frown become more apparent. "I've recruited them for a little expedition to the North Pole."

"Uncle, is that true?" asked Zuko.

Iroh nodded reluctantly, "I'm afraid so. He's taking everyone." He then placed an arm dramatically over his face, burying his eyes in-between his upper arm and forearm. "Even the cook!"

Noa had gasped, shaking her head. "Nononono, you can't take the cook! You just can't!"

"Sorry you won't be there to watch me capture the Avatar. But I can't have you getting in my way again." Zhao smugly spoke, angering Zuko even more and making him charge towards him. Iroh had prevented his nephew from tackling and attack Zhao.

Zhao had then strolled towards Noa, placing his hand on his shoulder. "It would be in your best interest to join me and Zuko's crew. I see you seemed upset about the cook-"

Grabbing the man's hand, she had shoved it off her shoulder. "You're not allowed to touch me. I never gave you permission and I never will."

Shocked by her words, he had clenched his teeth but tried to remain collected. "Quite feisty aren't you? It doesn't scare you that I am a master of my bending, does it? It also doesn't scare you that I'm a Fire Nation admiral." He had then lowered, his face closer to hers. "What gives you such lack of fear? Is there more to your powers then you let on?"

"I don't have to answer your questions but..." Her eyes had stared defiantly back into his own, "I don't fear weak men."

Offended by her words, his eyes had shot wide open as he had stood and tried to hold his temper back. Zuko had smirked, Iroh hiding his own with a smile. "That is enough, Noa. Please show more respect towards Admiral Zhao."

"I apologize for my brusque manner," The admiral had nodded, "but I will not apologize for myself being honest." She had bowed deeply and then looke away from him.

He clenched his teeth once more. "That's some ill-tempered tongue for a young woman that you have there." He spoke through gritted teeth, "You should learn not to aggravate a lion."

"Is that a threat, Admiral Zhao?" queried Noa, her eyebrow rising as she looked at him with innocent curiosity.

"Of course not." His smile was fake and she could feel the anger radiating off his form. He turned away from her, looking at the wall. Noa had wondered why he looked at the blades as if he had seen them before.

It didn't occur to her that they were missing yesterday. That Zuko had taken them with him, she too thought they were decoration. "I didn't know you were skilled with broadswords, Prince Zuko." Zhao had taken one sword off the wall, moving it around with practice.

"I'm not. They're antiques. Just decorative." Zuko answered calmly but there was something strange. It was like he was hiding something, Noa could hear it in his voice but then again, she could be paranoid.

"Have you heard of the Blue Spirit, Generl Iroh?" Zhao then asked Iroh, which made everything even more odd.

Iroh then spoke, "Just rumors. I don't think he is real."

" He's real all right. He's a criminal, an enemy of the Fire Nation." Zhao handed the sword to Iroh, who had taken it. "But I have a feeling that justice will catch up with him soon."

"He must be really something if you can't catch him." Noa commented, "You can't catch the Avatar and now you can't catch the Blue Spirit. Doesn't that make your rank lose merit?"

He had stopped at the exit of the cabin, his hands bawling into tight fists to the point they began to shake. Still, his voice was just as calm and he pretended to be civil. "It just makes the chase all the more interesting. I had let him go on purpose. Bringing them both to the Fire Lord only benefits me." He had then looked over his shoulder, "General Iroh, the offer to join my mission still stands if you change your mind." He then looked towards Noa, "Same for you. I feel we can easily get along if you let me have a chance. We started off on the wrong foot."

"No thank you but thank you for the offer." The kyuubi bowed deeply and then walked to stand beside Zuko.

"I'm going to talk to the crew and wish them goodbyes." Iroh had left the room, leaving Zuko and Noa alone.

"You're the Blue Spirit, aren't you?" Noa had questioned.

The prince had looked at her, feigning ignorance. "What would give you that idea?"

"I don't think Admiral Zhao would just randomly bring up a criminal to you unless he believed you were him." He appeared taken back by how quickly she had put two and two together, "And the day he brings up the Blue Spirit is the day after you went searching for the Avatar. It's too convenient."

"It was that obvious, huh?" It surprised her that he didn't deny it, instead he had sighed and then rested on his bed. She had sat beside him, her hands on her lap. "I can't believe he can just do this! I've been chasing the Avatar for three years!"

"So what if you don't have the crew, Zuko? You still have your smarts and you have Iroh..." She had then smiled, "And you have me. The three of us can still capture the Avatar." The hopeless look on his face had then changed as he looked at her in surprise. "You're good at tracking and we already know that he needs to master other elements. I can find him with my abilities, we don't need a ship or crew."

His eyes had roamed away from her and closed briefly as he had sat in thought. "It'll be difficult..."

"But it can be done." She urged on, "We can get disguises too so nobody recognizes you and Iroh." She then sighed, "We'll even have to cook our own food."

The prince's face fell at her words, she was still not over that the cook was taken from them. "You're still not over it?"

She sniffled, "No." Noa shook her head. "He made such great hippo cow, and his picken cutlets were so good."

The left corner of his lip had tilted upwards as he had placed his hand on her head. Her eyes had widened slightly as she had looked at him, "Thank you."

Her heart had fluttered in her chest, her face growing warm her a tinge of red had covered her cheekbones. He thanked her for the first time and she had felt warm and happy, her smile was the biggest and brightest that she had ever done in a long time.

His hand had then slipped from her head, not wanting to linger there much more. She had averted her gaze shyly, looking down at her feet. "You should get some rest, Prince Zuko. I'm going to help Iroh say goodbye to the crew."

"Standing on her feet, she made her way towards the door. "You're really going to beg the chef not to leave, aren't you?"

"W-Was I that obvious?" Noa whined, "But I'd like to say goodbye to Daiki and Lieutenant Jee as well as the rest of the men."

"Right." She smiled and then left the cabin, making her way down the quiet and empty halls. She had hurried down the hall and opened the hatch, she had seen the men walking down the gangplank and onto the docks. "Lieutenant Jee, Daiki! Everyone!" She had waved her arms, seeing them all standing on the docks.

"Noa!" Daiki had waved at her, helmetless and showing his bushy black hair and bright yellow eyes.

"I want to wish you all good luck." She said with a smile, "And to stay safe."

Jee nodded, "You take good care of yourself and very much care for Prince Zuko."

"I will." Noa nodded continuing to wave towards the crew. "I should make him come say goodbye."

Before Iroh could tell her that it was a bad idea, she had sped off back inside the ship. Going towards the prince's cabin, she had seen him lying in bed. "You should tell the crew goodbye."

"Why should I?" He asked.

Iroh then approached the door and spoke up, "They wanted to wish you save travels, that's why."

"Good riddance to those traitors!" Noa frowned at his words and sighed.

Changing the subject, Iroh had given a small smile. "It's a lovely night for a walk. Why don't you join me? It would clear your head. Noa, you should come with-" He noticed that Zuko wasn't paying any heed to his words. "Or, just stay in your room and sit in the dark. Whatever makes you happy." He glanced towards Noa, "Will you take a walk with me?"

Noa had looked at Zuko, wondering if it was best to let him stay alone and then looked towards Iroh. "Yeah, I'll go with you." She had watched Iroh nod. He decided to give her a few minutes, seeing as though she had a few words to say to Zuko,

"You aren't really angry at them, are you?" Noa asked him, "They had no choice. If they stayed with you things would've gotten worse and they would be disobeying the Fire Nation army."

The expression on his face had changed slightly. "You have a point."

"Lieutenant Jee told me to take care of you." She smiled, "It's odd that he would ask me to do that when you're the one that takes care of me."

Zuko had glanced over at her as she had sighed. "Well, I'm going to give you some time." She nodded, "Maybe Iroh can buy me some meat while we're out. I'll save you some!" Waving, she had opened the door.

"Wait," She had turned to look at him to see him get off his bed and stand, "I need some fresh air."

Smiling, she had clapped her hands together. "We can all eat meat together then!"

As she had turned around to open the cabin door once more, she had aused. "What?" He said, noticing that she wasn't moving.

"There are people on the ship." She had then sniffed the air, her brows furrowing together but then her eyes had grew in size. "The pirates! The pirates are on the ship!"

Zuko had moved her out of the way and walked down hallway carefully, Zuko taking a fighting stance while Noa looked in the direction where she had smelled and heard them. "Don't use your powers." He warned her, making sure her hearing was vulnerable.

She nodded and continued to cover him from behind as they watched every corner. "It smells weird. It smells like..." She sniffed again, "It smells like some sort of powder."

At the time she was describing the smell, Zuko had looked out the bridge window to see the familiar parrot that belonged to the Pirate Captain. It had quickly flew away and when she had spoke of the powder, he knew immediately what was happening.

Hurriedly, he had grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards him as the explosion had went off and her ears had rung loudly. Even with her powers not activated, her hearing was sensitive more than a humans. The sound had rung loudly in her ears, making her cry as they had landed in the ocean which immediately made her panic.

Zuko and herself had already separated once they had hit the waters and she could feel herself sinking down into the ocean.

Breaking the surface, the prince had breathed heavily as he had looked up and seen the deck. "Prince Zuko! Noa!" He had heard his uncle yell, he had immediately swam towards the deck and climbed up, coughing up water. "Zuko, you're alive." Iroh said in relief and held onto his nephew, who continued to hack up water.

"Where's Noa?" He asked his uncle, "She got out of the water, right?"

His uncle shook his head, Zuko's eyes widening. That's right. She was afraid of the ocean. "She's still in the water!" Zuko had inhaled deeply and then jumped back into the ocean waters, diving to find Noa.

It was dark and he could barely see anything since it was night. As he had searched for her, going back to the surface for air, he could feel the pang in his chest. He knew it was the bead and it obviously meant that Noa was in danger. Slapping the water, he had searched for her once more, he had felt an arm or what seemed to feel like an arm.

He had grabbed it, holding it close and then coming out of the water, gasping for air. He had pulled out what he believed to be was Noa, and laid them down on the board. "My spirits!" Iroh shouted, Zuko blinking a few times to clear his vision and then noticed was lied on the boardwalk. It was Noa but white fur had covered her body and out of her backside was nine, white tails.

"Noa..." Iroh looked in disbelief, "is a nine-tailed fox?!"

Zuko had looked away, moving Noa on her back. He had presed his ear near her mouth, sighing relief to know that she was breathing normally and didn't need CPR. She had began to cough up water and he had sat her up, holding her close.

He could feel the bead warm up in his chest from being close to it's owner, and he figured that by pressing her close that it could heal her and give her some relief. She had continued to release the waters from her lungs. "Prince..." She whimpered as he had held her closer, her body completely pressed to his own.

"Don't talk, you'll only make it worse." He explained to her, "Just rest." Iroh was still in shock, seeing the nine-tails that was coming from her form. "I kept it a secret from you because I wasn't sure what your reaction would be."

"But how? How did a spirit get into the physical world?" He questioned, still unsure how to soak all of it in.

Zuko began to tell the story of how he had freed Noa from the painting from the locked box he had given his mother years ago. He explained all the events afterwards. Iroh nodded understandingly, still not sure what to make of it. "I never would've guessed. No wonder why her power is not of this world. She must be protected."

His nephew knew that Iroh was fond of spirits, since he had once traveled to the spirit world before. "Noa is fine and she is capable, she's been in the physical world before. Four hundred years ago."

"No wonder she never heard of Kyoshi Island. This explains why she is such an odd girl." Iroh shook his head, sighing once more. "We need to get out of here but we can let anyone see her like this."

"Just give her a little more time. When she returns to normal, we'll get out of here." Zuko explained, "The last thing we want is for Zhao to find out Noa's true form."

**. . .**

A huge blur was glazed over her eyes before her vision finally cleared and she could tell she was in an all white room. Noa had slowly sat up, looking around to see there was nothing but a white curtain around her. "Where am I?" She had asked herself, rubbing her eyes.

"You're in the infirmary." Her eyes widened at the voice, the curtains pushed back to reveal Admiral Zhao. "Iroh had brought you to my ship for medical attention and because he has joined my crew."

Her eyebrows had knitted together, her head shaking. "W-Why would he do that?"

Zhao had pretended to sigh out of sadness, placing his hand on her small shoulder. She had narrowed her eyes menacingly, wanting to slap his hand from off her. "Prince Zuko ship was blown up."

"Where is he?" Noa had asked him, "Where is Prince Zuko?"

"Prince Zuko is dead." Zhao had closed his eyes, acting as if he was in pain.

She didn't believe it. Not in the slightest. If Zuko was dead then her bead would have shattered and she would've felt an immense amount of pain. He was alive. Instead of acting like she knew better, decided to play a role as he had. Her hands, before she had knew it, was over her face as she finally felt able to let out the whimpers that was creeping upon her lips.

Zhao had smirked, standing. "I know you were close to Prince Zuko. It must be devastating. General Iroh suspects it might be pirates." He had continued, "I'll give you some time to gather yourself. We'll be reaching the North Pole rather soon." He had left the infirmary and once she could tell he was far away, she had quickly ending her fake crying.

Her hand had rubbed her face, still feeling tired from what felt like a long and much needed sleep. The infirmary doors had opened once again, her eyes looking towards the door and then at the soldier that was approaching her. Her nose still stung from the ocean water and so it made her sense of smell out of tune.

"Noa," She had looked up at the soldier, smiling since she had immediately known the voice.

"Prince Zuko," She sighed in relief, "what happened?"

"Zhao happened. He hired those pirates to kill me." Zuko explained, "Also... Uncle found out about you being a kyuubi."

Her eyes had became large, "How?!"

"After the explosion, you nearly died from drowning and when I saved you.. Your tails were showing and your body was covered in fur." She had covered her face with her hands. "Uncle was very surprised but I don't think he sees you too different than he has before."

That made her feel relieved. She was fearing that Iroh would fear her or want Zuko to reseal her, but she knew herself that Iroh was far too kind to want to do something like that. "We should've told him in the first place. I hope he still likes me."

"Yes, I still like you." Both of them had looked up to see Iroh approaching them. "Are you better Noa?"

"Mm." Noa answered, "I just feel a bit tired." Her lips had parted slightly, releasing a long sigh. "I'm sorry for not telling you the truth, Iroh."

He had looked towards Zuko, who kept his eyes focused on her. "I would've been wary since there a lot of infamous, evil kyuubi's or gumiho as they are also called." Her head lowered, "But I know you aren't like them. I've been around you long enough to see that."

A smile had came across her face, "I'm so relieved. I don't have to hide anymore from you, Iroh."

His eyes continued to study his nephew, who was still watching the fox with observing eyes. "Do you need more rest?"

"No." Noa answered, "But..." She had grinned from ear to ear, "is there meat?"

Zuko sighed while Iroh chuckled.

* * *

**Author's Note:**


	6. Chapter 6: That Is My World

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or its characters, Michael Dante DiMartino Bryan Konietzko do!

* * *

"How are you fairing?" Noa had kept her eyes away from the admiral, already annoyed that he kept visiting more times than she would've liked. Her eyes had left the door and then looked down at her lap as her hands gripped onto the sheets.

"I'm well." She answered, "But if you're here to ask me if I'm well enough to use my powers, the answer is still obviously no."

Taken aback by her words, he played off his shock and disdain by keeping his what he deemed a charming smile. You couldn't fool a fox. "I see. I suppose the explosion did do a number on you."

"I'm a weak, fragile woman." She had placed her hand daintily on her head, "When I am hurt I need extra care." He knew she was being sarcastic but he bit his tongue still. If he was going to work his way into getting her to join him then he would have to keep biting his tongue and take her insults with a grain of salt. Her eyes had closed briefly. "I need my rest."

"Of course." He said, turning his back and walked towards the exit of the infirmary. "One more thing," She had opened her eyes, "you can't stall forever." And with that, he left the room.

Noa wasn't silly enough to know that he didn't know what she was doing. It was obvious she was pretending to still be worse for wear, she was already healed. Her ears still hurt now and then but she was still fine.

The doors had opened again, a helmsman walking towards her. She smiled since she could smell that it was Zuko. "We'll be docking soon." She nodded understandingly, "I'm going to leave in a canoe. You'll have to come with me."

She rose a brow, "Why?"

"Because if you stay here, Zhao will use you and how much longer can you keep him off your case?" He explained, she nodded understandingly. "I know you hate the water but..."

"I don't have a choice." Noa closed her eyes briefly, "Let's go." Climbing out of the bed, she had pressed her bare feet against the wooden floor of the ship. She had walked slowly behind Zuko who had led the way, keeping his mask covering his face. On the top shelf near the exit were her red slippers and she had slipped them on without letting Zuko get much distance away from her.

When they had reached a low level of the ship, making sure not to be seen by any of the helmsman. Zuko had left her to Iroh as he had changed from the Fire Nation uniform and into plain, grey clothing.

As he was lowering a canoe into the water, Iroh had decided to give Zuko words of advice. "If you're finishing for an octopus, my nephew, you need a tightly woven net or he will squeeze through the tiniest hole and escape."

"I don't need your wisdom right now, Uncle." Zuko had said, focusing on his task.

"I'm sorry, I just nag you because, well, ever since I lost my son..." Noa's eyes had widened slightly upon knowing Iroh had a child. The look on his face had made her heartstrings tug, her eyelids lowering.

"Uncle, you don't have to say it." He kept his back facing to his uncle, already seeing the expression on the older man's face in his mind.

Iroh continued on anyway. "I think of you as my own."

Noa had watched the teenager to turn to look at his uncle, showing a look of concern and understanding. The expressions on his face was rare and truly sincere. "I know, Uncle." He had bowed respectfully and saluted with an arm over his chest. "We'll meet again..." She smiled as Iroh rushed forward, giving his nephew a tight embrace. "...after I have the Avatar." He had said as he released Iroh from the hug.

Iroh's eyes were now on her, making her nervous to what he had to say. "Take care of yourself, Iroh. Leaving you with Zhao makes me uncomfortable but I know more than anyone that you are capable of taking care of yourself." She said, bowing.

"Aren't you afraid, Noa?" He questioned, the girl looking at him curiously. "You hate the ocean and-"

"I know but I have no choice." She had nodded, "And since I'm not going to be by myself it makes things much easier."

He walked over to her, placing his hands on her shoulders and then pulled her into a hug. Noa had smiled and returned his hug, "There's also one thing I have to ask."

Leaving his hug, she had looked at him curiously. "What is it?"

"In the Spirit World... is it possible for when people die that they can go there?" Iroh had asked, Zuko looking to Noa, curious of the answer as well.

Noa smiled and nodded, "Humans can choose to go there. They ascend from their mortal body and into the spirit world. It takes some spiritual connection and will power. You have to be really sure if that's what you want to do."

He nodded his head understandingly. "The greatest way of conquering a fear is by facing it head on. Be safe."

She had bowed again before walking towards Zuko, he had held her into the canoe and then began to lower it to the water. "Remember your Breath of Fire!It could save your life out there! As well as Noa's!"

"I will." Zuko responded as they began to sail off, Noa had waved to Iroh who continued to shout words of advice.

"And put your hood up, keep your ears warm!" He continued on, "Also, body heat is important. If you're ever in a predicament, you and Noa should hold each other for warmth!"

"Uncle! That's enough!" Noa had chuckled, blushing at the idea as Zuko was already flustered. "We'll be fine."

Noa watched Zuko navigate the canoe through the icy waters near the city. Noa had looked around, admiring the place. Turtle seals calls began to echo through the place, bringing some sort of calming effect over her.

"Noa," Her eyes had glanced over to him, "how are your ears?"

"Huh?" She muttered, surprised that he knew that her ears were slightly damaged from the explosion.

Zuko stopped rowing the canoe so that she could tell that this wasn't just a conversation she could easily dismiss, "Your ears, how are they?"

Her hands had slowly went up her ears, rubbing them. "Once in a while they'll sting but they have healed greatly for the most part."

"So you can't use your hearing ability just yet?" He questioned and she sighed.

"No, I don't think it's safe to. If I had my bead, I would've healed up instantaneously and even though the process is still quick, it still takes time and precaution." Noa had rubbed her ears after she explained, sighing.

His hands were on his chest, searching for the possession that she had given him. "When do you think my body will completely heal and I can give it back to you?"

She didn't want to answer that question. It was one out of two tickets of her staying beside him. Who's to say that he would allow her to be beside him without the bead and Avatar? "Maybe another month or two. The fall was deadly and the bead keeps you safe from any injuries you'll endure up ahead."

"Right." He did need the bead. Minor wounds had healed up instantly and despite the explosion, he had managed to escape somewhat unscathed due to it's power. He needed it, just a little while longer. The canoe had floated silently towards the damaged wall, he rowed the boat near the ice wall and then beached the craft. Noa had looked in the direction his eyes were, surprised to see turtle seals going to what seemed to be through the wall. There must've been a whole, "Where are they going? They're coming up for air somewhere."

Zuko had taken off his veil and then reached over to her hand. "Hm?" She looked at him, confused.

"We're going for a swim." He explained as Noa became much more hesitant. Taking a deep breath, she had placed her hand in his and he had pulled her towards him, wrapping her arm around him. Noa gasped, startled by the action as he had her arms around his neck. "Hold onto me and take a deep breath."

Nodding her hand understandingly, both of them had inhaled deeply and then he dived into the water, leaving the canoe. They had followed the turtle seals through the circular hole in the wall until they had found another and then a surface. He swam upwards, both of them breaking the surface and gasping for air.

He had climbed onto the ice floor of the ice cave and helped Noa up beside him. Her body was freezing, her arms wrapped around her self as clouds of water vapor escaped them. Zuko was shivering but continued to blow fire into his hands to warm him up. He looked towards Noa, seeing her freezing still.

He had taken her hands, her skin had felt like ice. Her eyes had looked down at his hands and then up at him, "Try to stay still." Noa nodded and watched as he let out a breath of fire hover over her hands. Her hands had immediately warmed up, her eyes glistening in amazement at his bending.

In between fire breaths, he had rubbed her hands with his own to keep the warmth and friction. His amber eyes looked briefly away from his actions and then towards her face as she had watched his actions with a smile on her face. Her right dimple became apparent, her eyes nearly beaming. He wasn't sure what caused the expression but he let his eyes wander away from her.

"I'm warm now." Noa said, not wanting him to keep going so that he would tire himself out. Even though she didn't mind if he continued but they couldn't afford to keep wasting time. "Let's hurry."

"Are you sure?" Her eyes slightly widened in surprise, shocked that he was making sure. She had looked at him as his eyes were solely on her, a very serious look in them.

She nodded, "Mm. I'm fine."

Both of them had stood and walked towards the waterfall at the back of the cave. Not sure why but she was feeling somewhat nervous. How would this confrontation work out? Would they capture the Avatar or would they fail? Her eyes had looked toward Zuko, his eyes continuing to look forward.

She wondered what was on his mind but it didn't matter since whatever was on it, it was solely about the Avatar and how he would finally be able to go home. They had reached the tunnel in which the water was spilling out from, Noa was the first to go through nd then Zuko following swiftly behind.

They ended up entering a cove, a secluded one. It was lush and warm, which was surprising due to the frozen walls and the location it was in. How could a place like this? With a garden and warm weather and grassy fields be in the North Pole?

Zuko had grabbed her arm, not letting her wander further without him. Both of them had seen the Avatar, who sat in a meditating pose in front of a pond while his friend, the water tribe girl, was there with a white-hired girl. "No, he's my friend. I'm perfectly capable of protecting him."

The prince had walked forward, Noa looking at him as he had walked forward. "Well, aren't you a big girl now?"

"No!" Katara shouted as Zuko continued to walk over the footbridge.

Noa watched the two and then looked towards the Avatar, "Yes! Hand him over, and I won't have to hurt you."

While both of them had engaged in battle, Noa had watched the white-hair girl run off, probably trying to find a safe place or get back up. She had ran towards Aang, the waterbender had gasped when she had seen Noa fly across the air and land right on the small island that the Avatar was on.

As soon as her hands had grabbed onto him as soon her hands had touched him, something had changed.

Everything that gone black.

_**. . .**_

"Prince Zuko?" Noa had mumbled as her face was pressed against, what felt like grass. Her eyes had slowly opened and she had noticed the large trees and the brightness of the blue sky above her. She had shaken her head, believing that her eyes were deceiving her. "Prince Zuko?" Her voice was still muffled but as soon as she had pulled herself up, she had begun to notice what else had changed. She no longer had hands, she had paws.

"It's been a long time, Kyuubi." Noa had looked up, gasping as she had seen a very familiar face. "It's been over four centuries since you've been here." Now standing on all four paws, she had sat on her hind legs and looked at Jimmu.

He was still the same. His hair was long, shiny and black. It had ended to his waist and was in a nice braid. His eyes were a bright amber, slant and defining. His cheekbones high and a very chiseled jaw. His skin was the color of bronze. Jimmu was still handsome and alluring as she had last remembered him to be. "I...I don't know how I ended up here."

The first Fire Lord had sat crossed-legged, his hands resting on his knees as he kept his eyes locked onto her form. He still held excellent posture; his back straight and not once trace of a slouch. "Where have you been all this time?"

Now in her kyuubi form, she had sighed. It felt odd for her tails to be exposed so freely, waving in the gentle breeze that came and went. "You remember the first time I went to the physical world, right?" Jimmu nodded understandingly, "Grandma Mameha had sealed me away because the people in the physical world didn't like me and so I was trapped in this painting. Just recently a boy; a Fire Nation prince had released me.

The man had rose a brow, surprised at her words. "Really? A prince, huh? Of my nation..."

"A lot has happened in the physical world, you wouldn't believe me if I told you." She had shaken her head, "It's now 100 AG and it's a mess."

The kitsune had heard the man sigh as he had nodded, "Tell me all that you know."

Noa had looked at him quizzically and then closed her oval and vertically oriented eyes. She began with what she knew from the Physical World and what Zuko explained to her; about Avatar Yangchen and to the current Avatar, Avatar Aang. Jimmu had kept a straight face even though she could see the surprise when she revealed what the Fire Nation was like now.

"It doesn't surprise me that the Fire Nation has become that cruel." Jimmu said as she had came to an end of the recent events. "They were like that during my reign, I don't expect any less. But genocide? A world war? It's madness."

Noa nodded understandingly, "But despite all the horrible things I've grown really fond of the prince and the ex-general."

The man had smiled slightly. "You've gotten attached to those humans?" She had nodded again. "Especially the Prince, huh?"

"I really like being beside him." As she had grinned, she had revealed her white, long canine teeth. "He's really mean and cold sometimes but when he's around, I feel very warm. I feel safe."

Jimmu had sighed. "You were looking for a groom the first time you were in the Physical World. Are you doing that again?"

"A groom?" Noa repeated, her eyes widened in shock.

"It's not going to work." He didn't want to rain on her parade, but he knew that the fox never thought clearly. "As long as you're a kyuubi, you'll always be seen as one. You're a spirit, how can you live amongst them?"

His words had stung her but she knew they were the bitter truth. "Granny Mameha said it was possible for me to be human, I just don't know how yet."

"What would you do if the price of becoming human must deal with sacrifice?" He questioned, leaving Noa in deep thought. Her eyes had stared at the grass while she was contemplating on an answer. "Are you feelings that strong that you will risk losing everything to gain humanity?"

"You're playing on a really big if, Grandpa." She finally said, smiling.

Jimmu frowned, his eyes showing obvious concern even though his face looked solemn. "Do you ever think things through, Kyuu-"

"My name is Noa." The fox interrupted, "Prince Zuko named me Noa."

Sighing, he corrected himself. "Noa, do you ever think things through? Do you ever think of possible consequences? You're already growing attached to humans. Do you think spirits and humans can coexist?"

"To be quite honest," The corner of her lips had remained upwards, "I don't think about those things." Noa had lowered her head, closing her eyes. "All I know is that I'm happy in the Physical World than I ever was in the Spirit World." Her words had left him in surprise. "I don't feel lonely anymore. I don't feel like a nuisance."

"Aren't you being selfish?" Jimmu queried, "Do you think that human will see you as something more than a spirit or more than a monster? Don't you think your feelings are borderline fairy tales? Just a fantasy?"

Shaking her head, she had opened her eyes and glanced back over at him. "Maybe I am being selfish..."

"You're playing with fire." Even though his heart was in the right place, it wasn't getting through to her.

"I know, Grandpa. But I'm the only one who is getting risked of being burned." Noa had stated, nodding. "And I'll take responsibility."

The man had merely sighed. "I have to say, you have grown." He nodded to confirm his words, "Yet you are still blind."

"At least I've done one thing right since you've last seen me." Her paws had pressed against the grass, making her run towards him and circle around him before sitting beside him.

Jimmu had dissolved into laughter. "Do you want me to tell you that I'm proud?" His right hand has reached for her head, giving her two pats.

_**. . .**_

"Uncle, why isn't she waking up?"

Iroh had looked away from his nephew and then down to the unconscious female in his nephew's arm. "What did you say happen?"

Sighing, he recounted the events that happened. After she had fell unconscious, he had to drag her and the Avatar away but he ended up having to let the Avatar go. And then he faced a battle with Zhao which ultimately led to Zhao choosing death than to accept failure. But before that?

"All I know is that while I was fighting the water peasant, she had went to retrieve the Avatar..." His eyes were closed as he continued to remember it all clearly. "When she had went to grab him, she just... She fell unconscious."

Iroh had hummed, stroking his beard. "The Avatar was in the Spirit World, you said, right?'"

"You don't think she connected to the Spirit World by touching him, do you?" He asked his uncle, who nodded. "But the Avatar already returned, why hasn't she?"

"I'm not sure..." The man sighed, "But we have to get out of here." His nephew had nodded and picked Noa up, one arm under her legs and the other supporting her back. "Are you sure you can carry her because I can if you need rest."

"I'm fine." Zuko had said as he had kept his eyes straight ahead, his feet nearly stomping in the snow of the Northern Water tribe.

Things were still a mess, soldiers still fighting the civilians and armies. Iroh had looked around at the devastation but tried to keep his mind focused on their escape. He had looked to his left at a river bank and saw a wooden raft. "We'll have to take our chances with this."

Zuko had nodded, knowing there was no other escape. They couldn't capture a ship and his canoe was too far away.

_**. . .**_

"Jimmu!" Noa had called his name, looking at him from the corner of her eyes.

"What is it, Noa?" He had asked, opening one eye to look at her.

Noa had stood and walked in front of him, sitting down once more. "Remember you use to tell me things about the Physical World?" He did not indulge her with a nod, but she knew he remembered that. "How come your wife didn't come to the Spirit World with you?"

Her question had left him stunned, his lips parted but no words coming out. She had waited patiently for an answer but with how silent he was, she figured she might not receive one. But she did. "I died before my wife and as I was dying, that was when I said I wanted to live on in the Spirit World. I didn't tell her but if I knew I could, I'm not sure if I would."

"Huh?" She had blinked twice, surprised. "Why wouldn't you?"

He had closed his eyes, sighing. "There was a woman I loved more than my wife. Someone I had met during the war of my time."

The kyuubi had listened on, her eyes concentrating on Jimmu to show that he had her complete attention.

"Her name was Aruna, the woman I loved. She was a strong warrior, unstoppable." He began to say, smiling as he had thought of the woman dearly. "She was beautiful and articulate. She had a way with people. In battle, she was calm and stoic; fiercesome than any man I knew. Outside of battle, she was gentle and childish. It was like being around two different people who shared the same face."

"I met my betrothed before I met Aruna, and she wasn't my betrothed yet. Bia, my wife, she was a friend of mine and came from a wealthy family. Bia was reserved and elegant, and very much desired by many men." Jimmu had exhaled, closing his eyes as he had reflected on the memories of his life. "At one point, I did believe I loved Bia but Aruna... She filled the void I had."

Noa's gaze had softened. "As I was forming our nation, Aruna was always by my side both in and out of battle. But she had told me to marry Bia, for the sake of the nation. The Fire Nation was two rivaling clans of firebenders, who hadn't settled their differences in years. Due to marry Bia, I united the clans."

The fox had frowned, "But what about Aruna?"

"Aruna had left. She said she wanted to travel the world." Jimmu had answered, "It was until twenty-years afterwards that my son had came to see me."

"Your son? You had a son with Aruna?!" Noa said, surprised.

Jimmu nodded, "She kept it a secret from me because she felt I would leave Bia and ruin the nation. She raised him well and it was because of him, I ended up seeing her again. She had remarried, and had a daughter. She was still the same. That boy, I made him the next Fire Lord before I had died."

"Didn't Bia feel saddened by that?" Noa questioned.

"Ryūjin was my son and he deserved the title." Jimmu had shaken his head, "My children with Bia did feel sourly but he was my first born; he deserved it."

"Do you still think of Aruna, every now and then?" She asked him, still amazed that she had managed to make Jimmu open up after all these centuries.

Jimmu had smiled and chuckled, "I think about Aruna every day and wonder how things would've been if I chose her over our nation."

"Without your sacrifice, I wouldn't have met Prince Zuko." Noa sighed, "I feel kind of bad about being happy about that."

He chuckled once more and then patted her head twice, "Sometimes out of other misfortunes brings luck. And I see how happy you are. You were lonely for a long time, and he fills that void."

"Now, you better return to the Physical World before the Prince worries harder." He had said, making her eyes widen.

Nodding, she had closed her eyes. She had to will herself back to the Physical World, before she had completed the spiritual descending, she had opened her eyes. "Jimmu," he nodded to let her know that he was listening, "thank you. Before Prince Zuko, you ended the loneliness."

Jimmu had watched in surprise as the fox had soon disappeared, leaving the Physical Realm. "Mameha, I know you're watching." He had looked over his shoulder to see an elderly woman, her gray hair was wrapped in a huge bun as she had wore a grey and purple hanbok.

"You always seem to catch me, don't you?" The woman sighed as she had walked towards him. "How is the fox? Is she still causing trouble?"

The first Fire Lord had shaken his head. "I feel like you might have to make her human soon, or she'll be giving you a reason to."

"She finally found herself a groom?" Mameha asked, surprised. "What makes you say that?"

Jimmu was silent for a few minutes, "Now that I've seen her and hear the way she speaks of this young man... It's like she's always in this moment where she truly fell in love for the first time."

"You're saying she was in love before?"

"You're telling me that you've never noticed? What kind of Grandma are you?"

**o**

With a jolt, Noa had sat up from the futon that she was lay in; her heart pounding in her chest, her breathing out of control before she had settled down. Her spirit had returned to her body and so that meant all was well. There was a face, one face in particular that she wanted the first to see, but she then noticed her surroundings. It was a small, cozy shack with comfortable size room. She had slowly stood, her steps slow due to her legs feeling weak from lying down for such a long time.

"Easy... Eassssy." She said to herself as she had attempted to walk forward before stumbling and then slowly falling towards the ground. Her hands were pushed out, saving her from the fall. She had whined on the floor, tilting her head back. "Prince Zuuuuuuuko!"

Kicking her feet, she had looked around once more and then towards a window. It was daytime. Getting back on her feet, she had rubbed her legs and to ease the tension in her muscles before finally feeling able to walk normally. Being a kyuubi had it's perks, that temporary pain was durable despite her impatience.

Raising the door curtain, she had looked out and noticed the beautiful place. It smells like a bunch of perfumes and fruits, and she could hear many voices of the people around. Her ears tried to find Zuko but she had smelled his scent first. Walking down the stone paths, she had her hands behind her as her eyes observed the place.

"It looks like a bathouse. It must've been around for a long time too." Noa mumbled, making sure she wasn't loud enough for someone to hear her. His scent had drew close, which meant that he was walking in the same direction as she was. The first thing she thought was that he was coming to the shack she was in, probably wondering if she was awake.

Her feet took her forward anyway, skipping almost until she had seen him walking up the hill. He wore a wide-brimmed hat, his head down as he had treaded forward. "Prince Zuko!" His name spilled from her mouth happily, his head slowly rising to see her. His eyes had widened slightly but he immediately changed his look of surprise into a solemn one.

She had finally made her way toward him, standing in front of him with a wide smile. "Took you long enough to wake up."

"Sorry." Her right hand had reached to the back of her head, rubbing it. "I was talking to an old friend in the Spirit World. I wasn't use to descending back to the Physical World on my own so it took some time for my Spirit to return to my body."

"On your own?" He questioned, "Mameha would bring you to the Physical World?"

"Mm." Noa nodded in reply, "She knows what she's doing and I don't." Her tongue had stuck out childishly as he had kept his eyes focused on her. The corners of his lips had slightly twitched upward, fighting the smile that was trying to appear on his face.

"Uncle was worried..." He changed the conversation, "He'll be happy to know you're awake." He then felt her arms slither around his torso, her head pressed against his chest. He expected that reaction, knowing she had no fear about embracing him.

A sigh of relief had escaped her, "My bead is still safe. I was worried if you would've gotten in trouble or touched another woman." She had pulled herself away from him, placing her hand on his chest near his heart.

"Touched another woman?" He said, confused. "What are you talking about?"

Patting his chest twice, she had looked up at him and explained. "You can't share your chi with another woman while my bead is inside you. That means no kissing and no mating-"

"Mating?!" His face had flushed red, his eyes looking at her with surprise.

"Mm, mating." She nodded, confirming her words. "When two people are in love, they mate, right? They mate to have ch-"

"I know what you mean, it's just..." He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "When do you think I would even have the time to?"

Her head had slightly tilted to the side. "You're a man so..."

"Ugh..." He decided not to speak anymore about it, massaging the bridge of his nose now. "That's enough."

"Has Prince Zuko mated before? Is that why it's uncomfortable for you-" His hand went over her mouth, muffling the rest of her sentence. She had looked him, eyes wide as she wondered why he didn't let her continue.

His face had went from pink to red, and it looked like steam was smoking out of his head. Noa knew that it was best to drop the conversation even though she was still curious. When his hand had left her mouth, an abrupt sound had broken the brief silence.

Both of them had looked down to her stomach, her left hand over it and moving in circles. "I'm so hungry..."

He sighed, knowing that her hunger was going to make it's appearance in a matter of minutes. "We'll go and get you something to eat but let's see Uncle first."

Noa nodded begrudgingly, unsure how much longer she could fend off her hunger. She had walked beside Zuko as they made their way to his shack, opening the curtain flap for the door to see him emptying a bag of what appeared to be seashells on a table. "Look at these magnificent shells! I'll enjoy these keepsakes for years to come."

He didn't know Noa, he was too busy eyeing the shells. It was until he lift his eyes away from them and looked in their direction that he noticed the kyuubi, who wore a smile and waved. "Noa! You're awake!" Noa had ran over to him, embracing him.

"We don't need anymore useless things. You forget we have to carry everything ourselves now." His nephew pointed out, looking at the seashells as Iroh had ruffled Noa's hair playfully, causing her to giggle.

"Well, looks like you've added a new member to the family, hm?" All three of them had looked in the direction of the door, which revealed a young girl with dark hair that was pulled into a neat top knot and two long bangs that framed her face. Her eyes were slant, a powerful shade of gold and her lips were painted red. The resembles between Zuko and the girl was striking.

Both Zuko had taken a step towards her while Noa had taken a step back. Her eyes had looked at the two, noticing how angry yet surprised they were to be seeing her. "What are you doing here?" His voice was filled with distrust, which kept her confusion growing.

Her stride was perfect, not a slouch in her posture. A regal air about her that befitted a princess, but with a hint of tyranny as well. Her slender fingers had picked up a seashell off the table, her fingers toying with the object as she had appeared unfazed by the sharp and heating glares they had made towards her. "In my country," she said arrogantly, "we exchange a pleasant 'hello' before asking questions." Her eyes then looked towards her brother as she had walked over to him, "Have you become uncivilized so soon, Zuzu?"

"Don't call me that!" Zuko barked furiously, his voice seething with anger.

"To what do we owe this honor?" Iroh spoke up, all of them watching the seashell in her hands.

"Hmm... must be a family trait. Both of you so quick to get to the point." Her hands had gripped the shell, her sharp nails shattering it effortlessly. Noa had frowned as Iroh's expression darkened. "I've come with a message from home. Father's changed his mind. Family is suddenly very important to him. He's head rumors of plans to over throw him—treacherous plots. Family are the only ones you can really trust." In that instant, her expression and her voice had softened. "Father regrets your banishment. He wants you home."

Noa had looked towards Zuko, noticing the way he had looked out the window in obvious fault. Soaking her words all in. Did he... believe her? "Did you hear me? You should be happy. Excited. Grateful." The girl had smiled, "I just gave you great news."

Iroh had stepped in, "I'm sure your brother just needs a moment to—"

The kyuubi was startled at the girls sudden interruption, her pleasant smile now into something furious. "Don't interrupt, Uncle!" She snapped. The Princess had walked towards her brother, standing beside him. "I still haven't heard my thank you. I am not a messenger. I didn't have to come all this way."

"Father regrets? He... wants me back?" His voice had tugged Noa's heartstrings. The desperateness, shock and disbelief was flowing in every word he spoke.

"I can see you need time to take this in. I'll come to call on you tomorrow. Good evening." The Princess had then left the shack, leaving the three of them alone.

"We're going home. After three long years. It's unbelievable." Zuko had said, gathering his clothes in the shack he had shared with Iroh.

Noa's eyes had lowered, almost hating the happiness in his voice. Did he not know that meant she couldn't go with him? Did he even care?

"It is unbelievable. I have never known my brother to regret anything." Iroh muttered, still skeptical of the situation.

"Did you listen to Azula?" Zuko questioned, surprised yet forceful. "Father's realzied how important family is to him. He cares about me."

"I care about you. Noa caress about you." Iroh had said, Noa was surprised to see that he mentioned her. "And if Ozai wants you back... well, I think it may not be for the reasons you imagine."

His nephew had grown defensive, his back facing his uncle. "You don't know how my father feels. You don't know anything."

All she could do was stand there. She didn't know Ozai's feelings and she didn't completely trust Zuko's motives. If Iroh had hesitations, she felt like he had every right to. Iroh really only wanted what was best for Zuko, she knew that more than anything.

Noa had watched Zuko walked towards his nephew, "Zuko, I only meant that in our family things are not always what they seem." He spoke gently, but gentleness did not work.

Angrily, Zuko had spun around and faced Iroh, leaning in as he had spoke such a ludicrous accusation. "I think you are exactly what you seem: a lazy, mistrustful, shallow old man who has always been jealous of his brother."

Gasping, the kyuubi's hands were over her mouth as she was in total shock that Zuko had said such a thing to Iroh. He had left the shack, leaving Iroh's head low and his eyes closed. "Iroh..." She had walked over to him, placing her hands on his arms. "He didn't mean that. I'm really sure he didn't mean that."

"I know..." Iroh sighed, forcing a smile on his face. "But how do you feel about all of this?"

Noa had kept a straight face and then smiled, "Well..." She had tried to force the tears back, "Prince Zuko is happy and he deserves to be. I know it's a place I can go with you two, so I'll be saying my goodbyes."

Iroh's eyes had widened in surprise. "What do you mean goodbye?"

"There's no point in me coming to the Fire Nation. How can I go? Technically, our contract would be over. He wouldn't need to search for the Avatar anymore."

He understood but it didn't mean he would allow it. "You should come see the Fire Nation, you'll love it there."

"No," Noa had said, forcing herself to keep smiling, "I'll just be a nuisance." She had turned away and walked out of the shack, heading towards the one she was in earlier. She had seen Zuko waiting there, her heart tightening in her chest at the sight of him. "Prince Zuko," He had looked over his shoulder. "Congratulations on being able to go home."

"Yeah..." A smile appeared on his face, making the burning sensation in her chest grow.

A sigh had escaped her, "Well... That means our contract is over. You won't need to Avatar anymore." His expression hadn't changed, he was thinking about how he was going to deal with that fact as soon as he was sure he was going home. "You can give me back the bead, and then it's all over. You'll be able to heal properly in the Fire Nation."

Zuko didn't budge from his spot initially, both heels remaining firmly cemented against the surface of the ground. Her steps were slow, her hands hesitantly reaching for his face. Their eyes had locked, fighting the blush that was creeping up to his face from how little distance there was between them.

Using the tip of her toes, she had inched her lips closer to his own until it was hovering over his. Zuko's eyes had fallen close as she had called the blue bead from him, slowly coming from out of his chest and up his esophagus and finally out of his mouth and returning to her.

Once the bead was settle inside her, she had felt a flourishing amount of warmth as she had placed her hands away from him face, her heels now pressed to the ground as she had taken a few steps back. Noa had slowly looked at him, his eyes half open. "Well, I guess this is goodbye." She lingered for a few minutes, her eyes drinking up his form so it could stay soaked in her memories.

Finally, in efforts to not feel even more bitter, she had walked past him and left the shack. After she had taken several steps away from the building, she had looked over her shoulder briefly. "Goodbye, Prince Zuko." With a small smile, she had looked forward and continued on without so much as looking back again.

* * *

**Author's Note: **This chapter is incredibly short. It was not worth the wait.


	7. Chapter 7: Don't Cry

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or its characters, Michael Dante DiMartino Bryan Konietzko do!

* * *

"Almost finished..." Stirring and stirring, she felt like she had stirred for hours! It didn't make her tired, she didn't feel any fatigue, but she was wondering went it would become the paste like they had ordered.

"How is the medicine coming along?" A girl asked, causing Noa to look away from the mixing bowl and up at the brunette.

"Oh, it's getting there. I think I might've forgotten something." She had pouted, looking back at the green-colored liquid.

"Did you add bellflowers?" The girl asked, Noa's eyes widening before she had slapped her palm against her forehead. "Don't worry, I tend to forget them too. You should add them last."

The kyuubi had whined softly, shaking her head. "I'm so sorry, Song. I can never seem to get it right."

"What do you mean? You're the fastest and most diligent worker here!" Her words were always uplifting, especially when Noa felt like she didn't deserve them. "Don't be so hard on yourself."

Noa had nodded, smiling. She had then stood and walked towards the shelves and looked in the small containers, looking for the previously grind bellflowers. When her eyes had spotted them, she had picked up the small glass and walked back towards the mixing bowl and added it into the paste before stirring.

Song, a girl with dark brown hair that was pulled into a braid and wore white and brown hanbok, had watched over Noa's shoulders. Her big, brown eyes ahd looked at Noa, who focused her gaze on the task.

When the liquid began turning into paste, a bright smile had formed on Noa's face, which had made Song smile as well. "See, you did it!" She had then patted the girl's back, "You've been quite the help the past two days. Without you, we would be stressed."

"It's no big deal." Noa had said as she had then given the paste towards one of the elder healers, who thanked her and began using it for a patient.

"How about we go out to eat for lunch, my treat." Noa had clapped her hands together, "I know you've been dying to try the beef bowl at Junko's!"

"It smells sooooo good! Of course!" The kyuubi had smiled happily, "But you should let me pay."

Song had shaken her head, "No. Didn't you say that you were saving your money so that you could go to Ba Sing Se? You should keep it. I'm not going anywhere."

Knowing it was futile with arguing with Song, she had nodded. "You have a couple more patients to look at, right? I'll clean the medical utensils."

The healer had nodded, watching Noa run off. "Mother, is Noa going to eat with us tonight?"

"I was hoping so." The woman had said, "She's quite refreshing to be around. I never seen a girl eat as much as she does."

Song had giggled, "Especially when it comes to beef. You said you were making duck tonight, right?"

"Yes, she seemed happy about it too." Song had looked away from her mother and to the patients that needed to be looked at, "Why did you ask?"

"I was just making sure." Her daughter replied before walking off to do her task."

With a basket full of medical tools in her hands, Noa had left the hospital and was now out in the Farming Village. The village was surrounded by a large and vast field of crops and plains, trees as well as bushes dotted around with the occasional lake or pond. The roadways were winding dirt and always had a caravan or a group of travelers walking on them. The place was busy; lively to be better suited. The idea of staying here did stick in Noa's head but she had wanted to venture to Ba Sing Se.

Once she had made her way down the path, she had saw the well and immediately ran over. Placing the basket on the ground, she had used the rope to lower the empty bucket already waiting to be used. "Someone left their bucket. Ah, good for me." She shrugged it off.

_**/**_

"How do you think Noa is?" Iroh had asked his nephew as they were traveling through the forest. "Do you think she is well?"

His nephew had kept his eyes on the dirt path, not bothering to look up. "Does it matter? She's not with us."

"But we're looking for her, aren't we?" His uncle stopped walking, looking at his nephew in confusion. "She only left because she thought we were going to the Fire Nation. And your body isn't completely healed, you need that bead. How can we travel and worsen your condition? We're wanted men."

Zuko had set his jaw, his feet stopping in their tracks. "If she had just came with us then there would be nothing to worry about." Zuko had said, "Azula tricked up and she could've escaped with us and then we'd all be back to how we were."

"But you said that was the agreement you two had." Iroh sighed, "Why didn't you try to convince her to stay?"

"She was in such a hurry to leave!" Zuko snapped, "It was like she wanted to say goodbye."

"That is not true, Prince Zuko. If Noa really wanted to leave, she would've given us the Avatar a long time ago." His uncle said, "She wants you to be happy more than anything. I understand that she would believe that you would live a normal life without her at your side." Iroh had walked ahead of his nephew.

Zuko had stared at the ground in thought. Trying to shun his thoughts and the conversation, his pace had quickened in order to make a hasty getaway through long strides.

Iroh had looked at his nephew, sighing. "I hope Noa is doing well..." He muttered to himself as he had continued to walk down the path.

_**/**_

Upon returning back to the hospital, there were three new patience. Noa had sized them up, looking at them in surprise. The one who had stood out the most was the boy. His hair was a chocolate brown, it was unkempt; very shaggy. His eyes were nearly the same shade as his hair, a dark brown, and his eyebrows were thin and highly arched. In his mouth was a stalk of prairie grass. "Noa, there you are." Song had said to her, Noa's eyes leaving Jet to look at the healer.

The girl had taken the basket of tools out of her hand, "Could you clean and dress that boy's arm? He's got a bit of an gash but he was already stitched. He just needs medicine and gauze."

Understanding what was ordered for her to do, she had walked over towards the supply shelf and grabbed the antiseptic and a roll of gauze. Her eyes looked at out of the three that Song had asked for, but the boy she had took notice of first had raised his hand to signify it was him.

Noa had walked over to him and uncapped the antiseptic, rubbing her forefinger of the green paste and lightly pressed her finger on the boy's stitching. "Is every girl in this hospital attractive?"

His words had caught her off guard, she had looked at him and then looked back at his wound. "Nobody is as pretty as Song." She finally said as she had made sure she had placed paste all over his wound before taking the gauze and securely wrapping it around his arm.

"You mean the girl that took the basket?" The boy questioned in which Noa nodded in reply. "You're modest, huh?"

Unsure of what he was trying to imply, Noa rose a brow. "You're all done." She had tied it neatly. "You're all dressed and ready to go." Noa had bowed as he had stood from his seat.

"Not even going to talk to me, are you?" Noa had looked at him, blatantly lost as to what he was talking about.

"I did talk to you. I'm talking to you right now." She clarified.

Jet snorted and then looked to the short companion to his left. "Smellerbee, we're not too far from the ferry, are we?"

Noa's eyes had lit up, looking at the unkempt-haired boy."You're going to Ba Sing Se?"

He nodded, chewing on the prairie grass in his mouth. "Yeah."

"I'm going there too!" Noa had said with a smile, "Just until I make a little more money."

"Why don't you come with us?" His words had surprised her, she had looked at him skeptically. "Safer travel and we can help pitch in if ya runnin' low. We have a bunch of gold pieces from sellin' our old stuff."

Looking down at her hands, she contemplated if she should accept it. "Well..."

"I'll give ya the night to think about it." He had then turned away, the duo with him following him. Noa had watched him leave and then sighed, wiping her hands on her hanbok to get rid of the paste off her fingers.

"What was that about?" Song asked, "You two seemed to be have a serious conversation."

"He's going to Ba Sing Se." Noa explained, "And they said they would help me if I ran low on money. I wasn't sure so he said he'll give me the night to think about it."

"How can you trust him?" asked Song, "He could be shady. Sure, he has a nice face but we don't know anything about him."

"I don't know but I do." Her voice was low, "He kind of reminds me of someone very dear to me."

"You mean the boy you said you left behind?" Song questioned. Noa had shaken her head, "This old guy, Grandpa Jimmu. He kinda looks like him if he was young."

"Grandpa...Jimmu?" Song repeated, confused.

The fox had chuckled, "Nevermind."

Song had blinked a few times and then shrugged, deciding to leave it at that. She had followed after Noa, a smile on her face. "Lunch shift is starting, let's go get the beef bowls."

Nodding, Noa had followed Song out of the hospital and into the village, both of them walking alongside each other. "So, you're really leaving behind that guy you talked about?"

The kyuubi looked to her left at Song, "Yeah."

"For good?" She pried, "I mean it seems to me that you're still not over him."

"Over him?" Noa repeated, confused as to what she meant by that.

The girl chuckled, "You know... When you break up with someone, you try to get over them. Forget them. Move on."

"Move on..." Well, she understood that much. "It's... hard, but I think I can manage."

The brunette had looked at her friend, her smile faltering. "Y'know, I'm a little jealous."

"Jealous? Why should you be jealous?" Noa questioned, "You have a nice home and mother. You live really well here."

Tilting her head back, Song had gazed at the blue sky above them. "But I've never really been in a relationship. That's what I'm jealous of. I never cared for a boy like you care for the guy you left behind."

Noa's face had softened, her eyes looking down at the ground and then at the path ahead. "There's no need to rush, you have a long time."

Song had looked at Noa, seeing the gentle yet sad expression on her face. "I guess I might be in a rush but most girls our age have boyfriends or have in mind of someone they like. Some are even planning to marry!"

She definitely knew how that felt. Seeing everyone get married around you but you... you're still alone. "The day will come when you have someone of your own, Song. You just might have to wait a little while."

Song merely smiled, deciding to believe in Noa's words. "So, about that guy of yours..." Noa glanced over at the girl beside her, "what did he look like? Was he really handsome?"

Just picturing Zuko had made her smile but it also saddened her. Her eyes had closed briefly, her hands still behind her. "His hair is dark brown, his eyes are so bright... A really bright shade of amber. When he's mad, they kind of darken but when he's happy..." The image of his smiling face from Azula's news had flashed across his mind, "they become an even bright amber, like a flame. His skin is smooth even though he has a scar but his scar... His scar makes him even more alluring."

The healer had listened diligently, smiling at how Noa seemed alive as she described him. "He's very lean, from his hardwork and dexterity, he's in good shape. He's not too muscular but you can definitely see them."

"Wow, he sounds perfect..." Song mumbled.

"And his scent, I enjoy the way he smells. He smells like a campfire, kind of. Like the smell of sandalwood and it's spicy, it leaves a little tingle in your nose but it's so inviting and warm. Even though he doesn't display a personality that matches his scent, his scent makes you feel safe... It makes you feel welcomed."

Noa had stopped walking, Song stopping beside her as vanilla gold eyes were staring up at the blue, cloudless sky. "Noa, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." She nodded, a small smile on her face. "I just know that even if we never cross paths again, he'll always be alive in my memories."

"Why did you leave him in the first place?" asked Song, "He seems, pretty much, perfect." She shrugged, showing her absolute confusion.

The fox had looked at Song, still keeping her smile. "Because where he was going was somewhere I couldn't follow." She had walked forward, getting a few steps ahead of Song.

"Somewhere you couldn't follow?" Song queried, mumbling it to herself as she tried to figure out what that meant. "You mean, like, you wanted to go to Ba Sing Se and he wanted to go somewhere else? Or is there familial issues?"

"Mm..." hummed Noa, "it's more like familial issues. He and I just didn't belong together. It's... It's by chance that we met each other in the first place, really."

"Ah, he's rich and since you're lower class, his family wouldn't accept you?" Song said, thinking she had put two and two together.

Due to her not being able to tell Song the real truth, she felt like what Song summoned was a good enough answer and probably a more realistic take on what transpired between Zuko and herself. "You got me." Noa had sighed, "That's it."

"You two should've ran away together then!" The healer wasn't going to let it go. "Then that would've made a difference and you both would've been happy."

"He's been wanting to be with his family for a long time. He was kicked out and estranged," Noa replied, "so when he found out, he was so happy and I didn't want to force myself into that. There was no room for me."

The brunette's eyes had widened and then a look of understanding had washed over her features. "I see. So, you left him and just planned to go back to Ba Sing Se, huh?"

"I've been to Ba Sing Se before, I lived there." Noa had said, "I wonder how much it has changed."

"Oh?" Song said, surprised. "Do you have family there?"

Shaking her head, Noa sighed. "No, but it's just a place I know and am familiar with. I want to start again there."

"I see." With a nod, they had reached the restaurant. "Well, this is it. Let's eat!"

_**/**_

He was running out of breath, running and searching for a doctor. He wasn't sure where to go or which path to take, he just knew he needed help. '_Dammit Uncle. Did you really need to make tea that badly?'_ He cursed to himself, wondering why his uncle couldn't be patient until they had found herbs that they knew were safe.

All around he searched until he saw a plume of smoke in the air. He figured that something was up ahead, and it was a guarantee that there was people where the smoke was coming from. "Uncle, pick up the pace!" He yelled, looking behind him to see his swollen face family member running slowly.

Slowing down, he had walked towards his uncle and place the man's arms around his shoulder and try to speed him up. "Sorry Prince Zuko. I really thought it wasn't a white jade plant."

"There's no time," He had said until he saw crop fields. He realize there had to be a farm nearby. "Look, there's a bunch of lakes and plant fields. We must be near a village." He pointed out to Iroh.

"Really? I can't really see. My face is a bit too swollen." Iroh mumbled, his nephew sighing. When they had reached into the village, he immediately asked for directions to a hospital and kind people had led him over.

A woman had immediately ran over to attend to Iroh, alerting the healers of a patient with a rather grotesque rash.

They had tripped Iroh of his tunic and let him to wards a sitting table. A girl had approached him, Song, and was given a bowl of green-like clay in which she had began to put on his face and body, covering the areas where the rash had spread.

Zuko had sighed, sitting behind the girl. His backside on the floor, his wide-brimmed hat covering most of his face as his eyes stared down at the floor. _'She should be safe. She's a kyuubi.'_ He thought to himself, getting lost in his thoughts as he couldn't help but be curious of what the nine-tails was doing.

_'Prince Zuko! Prince Zuuuuuuuuuuuuuko~'_ Her voice had echoed in his mind, the corner of his lips had tilted upward in a microscopic smile as he could imagine her, face full of hippo cow with a smile that seemed to lightening up all on it's own. It did feel odd that she wasn't around, she had been with them for almost two months and it would take some getting use to. Her presence, her voice, and the sound of her groaning and moaning over the fresh plates of hippo cow or picken was, much as he didn't want to admit... was much missed.

"You two must not be from around here." Song had said, "We know better than to touch the white jade, much less make it into tea and drink it."

A blush of embarrassment had crept up Iroh's swollen face, his hand rubbing the back of his head as he let out a sheepish laugh. "Whoops!"

"So where are you traveling from?" asked Song, curious about the two travelers.

Zuko quickly stood, his speaking fast. "Yes, we're travelers."

"Do you have names?" The young healer questioned.

The Prince had looked around, hesitant. "Names? Of course we have names. I'm... Lee. And this is my uncle, uh..." He looked at his uncle quickly, "Mushi."

Iroh was obviously unhappy about the name, shooting his nephew a glare from behind the young girl's back. "Yes, but my nephew was name after his father, so we just call him Junior." He said rather facetiously as he looked over the girl's shoulder, seeing his reaction.

His nephew had balled his fists at the name of "Junior"... "Mushi and Junior, huh? My name is Song. You two look like you could use a good meal." Before Iroh could scratch his rash, she had swatted his hand away. "Why don't you stay for dinner?"

"Sorry, but we need to be moving on." Zuko had rejected the offering.

"That's too bad. My mom always makes too much roast duck." Song sighed, "Especially since my friend had just left. She had gone to Ba Sing Se. I thought she would stay another night."

Iroh had looked to Zuko, seeing him curious of who this "friend" was. "What was her name?"

"Hmm?" Song hummed, "Oh, her name was Noa. She was working here for the past two days since she came here and she has been a really big-"

"Noa was here?!" Her eyes had widened upon the boy knowing her friend, she had then gasped.

"Are you her ex-boyfriend?"

"Ex-boyfriend?" Both Iroh and Zuko repeated, questionably.

The girl nodded, "Yeah. She said she had left a guy because you two were bound to separate. Are you searching for her?"

Iroh had looked back at his nephew, wondering what his answer was going to be. "No." He had said, his knuckles nearly turning white from how tightly clenched they were.

"How is she?" Iroh had questioned, "Was she healthy?"

"Healthy? Yes," Song nodded, "she sure can eat! My mother never had to worry about wasting food when she was around." The girl had giggled, her hand over her mouth as she thought about the first day they had met Noa.

The older man had smiled, glad that Noa was safe and undiscovered. At least nobody had knew she was a nine-tails and she was handling being on her own very well. "I'm sure we'll be crossing paths with her soon."

"There's no doubt you'll run into her." Song had said, walking to Zuko. "She really cares about you." She tried to reassure him, making Zuko look at her quizzically and somewhat flustered. "I can tell that by the way she spoke so highly of you."

"Oh, she spoke of my nephew often?" Iroh had queried, a mischievous smile on his face.

Song nodded in reply. "I can tell how sad she was being away from him. She said that he was going back to his family and she knew how happy he was. But that seemed to have changed, right?"

"Yeah," Zuko said sourly, "it did."

Iroh had also reflected on the memory of Azula's deceptive plan. "What time did she leave?"

"She left around the afternoon with this group." She answered.

"A group?" The Prince repeated, "What group?"

"Mm, a boy and his friends. They were going to Ba Sing Se and offered to help pay for expenses if she was low on money."

Zuko had set his jaw, "How could she trust them? She doesn't even know them!" His voice started to rise but he had then controlled it. "How could you let her go off with strangers?"

"They seemed to be safe from what we know." Song had tried to reason, "Noa said she was fine, so she was willing to go. Even though I tried to convince her to stay for a while..."

"We should eat dinner and go, and maybe we'll catch up to them." Iroh tried to reason, "We can't go on an empty stomach or else we'll be too tired and my condition is not ready for travel as of yet."

What he said made sense but he couldn't help the bad vibes he had gotten to hear that she was traveling with strangers. He then convinced himself that he was worrying too much, she was extremely capable of handling herself. Still, he couldn't really put his finger on why he had felt so uneasy. At least they knew where she was going, that would have to settle him down.

_**/**_

"So, Noa," The girl had looked over to Jet, "you a fighter?"

His question confused her but she had answered. "A fighter? You mean like can I bend or something?"

"Yeah, y'know, can you knock a few heads?" She had nodded, "Really? Heh," His grin appeared, which left her unsettled. "I could tell."

"It's... obvious?" She had said.

"Earlier, I saw you practicing with that sword we found earlier." He kept his focus to the path in front of them, "There's a sword style I know but I didn't master it. I just know that you don't squeeze or have a loose grip on the handle."

"It's like holding-"

"A tea cloth." He finished. She had smiled and nodded, "See, I know. My father's friend used to practice that sword style."

Her eyes had picked up on the faint somberness in his voice. "I learned it a long time ago." She had said, "A good friend of mine taught it to me. He said women should know how to protect themselves."

Slowly, she had raised her hands and inspected them, wondering if she could see any calluses. There weren't any when there should be but she assumed that it was because of her being a spirit, they would heal quickly and not form. "He's right. Everyone needs to be able to protect themselves, especially against the Fire Nation."

He didn't hide his obvious hate for them, and she could commend him for being honest about it. Still, she didn't want to agree but if she didn't it would make her suspicious, wouldn't it? "Yeah, especially against them."

"All the Fire Nation does is take and destroy; they don't care about the families they ruin or the children they leave parentless and homeless." He continued on, her eyes lowering.

"Yeah," Smellerbee had added, now joining the conversation. "They just like to ruin people lives and make their own better. All they care about is themselves."

She wasn't sure if it was because she felt bias because of Iroh and Prince Zuko that she didn't feel like to keep agreeing with them, and so she kept her mouth such. "Do you have any family, Noa?" Jet asked her, looking at her from the corner of her eyes.

"Family? No, I don't have anything like that." She answered, "There was a woman who looked out for me but she wasn't like family." Noa had sighed, "It never bothered me though."

The trio was silent, Jet had then walked in front of her, stopping her from walking any further. She had paused, looking at him quizzically. "Then why don't you join us?"

"Join you?" Noa repeated, confused.

"Join the Freedom Fighters." Jet clarified, "We'll be like a family to you."

Her eyes had slightly widened at his words, unsure what to say. She was grateful for his offer but she wasn't sure about joining them. Did she really feel like getting attached to someone else? "I'm not sure about that." She spoke, her hand raised to her chest as she had kept her eyes looking down at the ground beneath them. "I'll need to think about it."

"Good." Jet had said before turning to look at Longshot and Smellerbee. "We'll be setting up camp here. It's too dark and risky for us to travel further." He instructed. "Smellerbee, Longshot," Both teens had looked at him, "you two start a campfire and pitch the tents while Noa and I go search for some food."

"Alright." Smellerbee had said, Longshot nodding.

Noa had walked alongside Jet quietly. "I guess we're going fishing huh?" She had started a conversation, "There's a river real close."

"That seems like the plan." Jet had stretched his arms behind his head, chewing on the prarire blade. "So, Noa, is there a reason why you're going to Ba Sing Se?"

Nodding her head, she had swung her arms lightly. "I use to live there a long time ago. I would travel from Ba Sing Se and to other small villages, kind of finding a place where I belonged."

Jet had glanced at her as she had tilted her head back, looking up at the star-filled sky. "You had a problem fitting in?"

"Mm." She answered, "But it never bothered me because I had fallen in love with someone in Ba Sing Se."

"Oh?" Jet had said, "Is he the reason why you're going there?"

Her expression had blackened, her eyes having this haze of nostalgia. "He's part of the reason."

"Plannin' to reunite with him?" He continued to question, "Why did you leave him anyway?"

She had shaken her head, "He's dead." She had sighed, "And it's not that I left him willingly."

"Oh..." Jet murmured as they had reached the river, "Sorry I asked."

"It's okay." Noa had smiled, "It was a long time ago. So, there's no need to worry."

He decided to end the conversation there and pulled out his twin hook swords. He carefully tread the water, squinting his eyes. "I'll catch 'em and you tie 'em. It'll be more efficient that way." He said, placing both swords in one hand to throw her some rope.

**o**

"How long is it going to be until we reach the ferry?" Smellerbee asked as it was daytime. All four of them had been walking since the morning, stopping for no breaks.

Noa had looked over her shoulder at the short, unkempt hair girl. "We'll be there soon. I can smell the ocean."

Jet rose a brow, "You can smell the ocean from here?"

"Yeah," Noa nodded, "my sense of smell is pretty strong. Besides, I was out in the ocean for a couple of months so I know the smell of the ocean more than anything."

"Traveling by sea?" He queried and she had nodded in reply. "Well, that makes me feel easy. Hopefully we'll get a good meal while we're on there."

"Hopefully..." Smellerbee mumbled, "I'm sick of eating fish."

Noa had sighed, "What I would give some hippo cow!"

"Or some picken!" Smellerbee added, she had then looked to Longshot as his eyes seemed to speak to her. "Yeah, some noodles would be great right now too."

All three of them had rubbed their stomachs in sync, Jet snickering. "Don't worry. When we reach Ba Sing Se, we'll be eating really good."

"Just a few more miles to go." Noa had closed her eyes briefly. 'You're probably in the Fire Nation already, aren't you?' She had though sadly. 'He's probably so happy...'

"Yo, Noa!" Smellerbee had called out the older female, the kyuubi looking over her shoulder again as Smellerbee had quickly went to her side, pushing them away from the boys slightly so they can talk more privately. "What is it?"

"How do you feel about Jet?" The shorter girl murmured, Noa blinking twice in confusion.

"Mm, he's pretty nice, I guess?" She had answered, nodding slightly. "He seems to be a pretty good leader too."

"Do you, you know, like him?" Noa was still confused, "Like, you find him attractive?"

Now she had gotten the gist of what the girl was saying. The fox's cheeks had turn a slight shade of red, "He's pretty handsome. He has that rugged kind of style but-"

"You should totally go for it." Smellerbee urged on, "I think you two would be a good fit."

"Noa, Smellerbee." Both girls had looked away from each other and then up at him, "Looks like we made it."

"Finally!" Smellerbee sighed in content as they had walked down the hill and went towards the docks. They had reached the ferry landing, they had all given her their documents.

Noa was lucky that she had traveled with Jet and the others, or else she wouldn't have been able to buy a document for her to travel. "Which one should we go on? The ferry on the left, the one on the right, or the center one?"

Noa had looked at the center ferry and shrugged, "We should get on that one. It looks like it's gonna take off first."

"You're right." Jet had nodded as they had walked alongside the boardwalk and hurried went up the gangplank before it closed. When they had reached the lower level deck, they all sighed in relief.

"First things first." Noa had looked around, "Food."

All of them had looked around to see if people were eating, they had seen servers giving out bowls, which piqued their interest. Noa was the first to run over, the rest of the freedom fighters following.

The fox had sniffed the air, her face contorting to one of confusion and disgust. When she was given her bowl, she had looked down to what appeared to be a bowl of gruel. "What is this...?"

The food server had looked at her as her eyes stared into the contents of the wooden bowl. "It's congee."

"It looks disgusting." Noa had said, sniffing in it. "And there's no meat. It's rice... and milk! How can you feed us this?"

"Take it or leave it, brat!" The man shouted, annoyed. Noa had looked at him, frowning and walking away.

"I'm not a brat..." Noa had mumbled, "I'm older than him!" She continued to say under her breath as she had walked over the rail, holding the bowl.

She wasn't sure if she was hungry enough to settle for what was in the bowl but she didn't want to throw it in the ocean. Looking around, she had looked to see a family who was made to split a bowl. Walking over to them, she had gave them her bowl. "Oh no, we can't accept this."

"It's fine. I'm not hungry and you would appreciate it more than I would." Noa had smiled at the elderly woman, who nodded and accepted the food, taking it from Noa's hands.

"You're that stubborn, huh?" Jet had said as she had walked over to him, Smellerbee, and Longshot. "You should've ate or your stomach will start hurting."

She shrugged, "I can miss a meal. Besides, that stuff would've made me sick."

Foxes didn't eat rice. They were carnivores. She wouldn't have been happy or healthy eating that. "Well, if you say so." Smellerbee shrugged, deciding not to worry too much about it.

As the ferry sailed on the water, the first to depart out of the three, she had found a spot to sit at and crossed her legs. "I want a bath... I want hippo cow..." She had groaned, "I don't like living like this... Living without meat and being clean."

A hand had patted her back, her eyes had looked from the ferry floor and up at the person who did a kind gesture to see it was Longshot. He had given her a hard stare, which she didn't quite understand. His silence was strange to her but she felt as if he was trying to reassure her. "Thanks..." She muttered as he had nodded.

"There's no way they can just give us this food. Those tickets weren't cheap, I'm pretty sure they could afford better food." Jet had said, telling them his suspicions.

Noa had stood, "You wanna snoop around?"

"Heh, food gets you motivated, huh?" He said as she had nodded hurriedly.

"Alright." He nodded, "Bee, Shot, we're gonna find out if what's happenin' around here."

Smellerbee and Longshot had nodded, "Do you want us to do anything?"

"You two can ask around if anything suspicious has been happening, alright?" He said as they had nodded once more.

Noa and Jet had walked off, trying not to look suspicious. They had walked towards the stairs that led toward the second-level of the deck, but Jet had made sure she had stayed behind him due to the guards that were patrolling the area.

"I smell some food, especially on the second floor deck. Ohhh, I can smell picken." She had sighed.

"We aren't allowed up there. It's where the captain's quarters are." Jet had said, "It's too suspicious during the day but now we know that he's got good food."

She had stomped her feet, "But I wanna eat picken~" She whined, borderline ready to cry.

He had tried to hold in his laugh, not sure when he ever seen a girl as desperate for food as she was. "We can't risk it."

Even though she knew what he was saying was a good plan, she just didn't want to wait anymore. Of course whining wasn't going to solve anything.

Her hand had rested on her head, she had rubbed her temples slowly and softly. In the midst of it, she had sniffed the air catching on another scent. Jet had looked at in her direction as she had spun in a circle, sniffing and then looked northeast. "...It can't be."

"What?" He questioned, "It can't be what?"

"Oh, nothing." She had shaken her head, "My nose is probably... being weird." She had rubbed her nose trying to make sure it wasn't smelling something that wasn't actually around.

Both her and Jet had walked back to where they left Smellerbee and Longshot, to see the two waiting for them. "We got an idea of what might be going on." He said to them.

"Yeah, people are around here saying that the Captain is getting five-course meals and he's just giving the rest of us his leftovers."

"Leftovers? It's more like scraps." That seemed to tick Jet off, a frown adorning his face.

The scent was stronger now, and it was definitely close. The fox's eyes had widened as she had slowly looked to her right, the silhouette of the Fire Nation prince that she hadn't seen in almost a week was standing there.

Her eyes felt like they were going to bulge out of her sockets and she could feel the tears ready to brim at the corner of her eyes. Jet had followed her gaze to the boy, who had spat out the content's of the porridge. "I'm sick of eating rotten food, sleeping in the dirt... I'm tired of living like this."

Jet had walked over to him as he was leaning on the rail, discouraged and unhappy. "Aren't we all?" Noa was taken back by the fact that Jet was speaking to him. Looking around, she had hurriedly left due to the fear of being caught by Zuko. "My name's Jet, and these are my freedom fighters, Smellerbee, Longshot, and-"

He had looked over his shoulder to just see Longshot and Smellerbee, obviously confused as to why Noa wasn't there. Smellerbee and Longshot had then too noticed the girl was missing. "Uh, missing someone?" Iroh had asked.

"Yeah, where is she?" Jet had asked them both, as they had shrugged.

"She was just here a minute ago." Smellerbee had said, her big and round eyes now searching for the fairy for her.

Iroh had looked around, Zuko now peering over his shoulder as the group of three was wondering where their other member had gone. "What does she look like?" Iroh queried.

Jet had sighed, "Don't worry about it. She'll come around." He dismissed it, anyway. "Here's the deal. I know for sure that the Captain's eating like a king, while us refugees have to feed of his scraps. Doesn't seem fair, does it?"

"What sort of "king" is he eating like?" Iroh had asked, curious.

"The fat, happy kind." The man's mouth had gaped open, drool exiting his mouth and onto his beard. "You want to help us "liberate" some food?" Jet offered.

Zuko stared down into at the bowl of congee, considering for a moment before hurling it out over the rail. "I'm in." He had said as he had turned to face them.

"Alright, so here's what we're gonna do." Jet had said as they had began to formulate a plan.

"What about your missing friend, is she going to help?" Iroh questioned.

Jet had shaken his head, "It'll be much of a hassle if it is all five of us. It's best to keep it small." He had said as the former general nodded, agreeing.

As they all huddled, Iroh had noticed someone peeking behind a wooden rail. He had narrowed his eyes, looking intensely in the direction. It appeared the person had noticed he caught them and hid right behind the rail.

_**. . .**_

When it had turned night, she had watched the boys and Smellerbee initiated their plan. With a sigh, she had decided to keep her distance. 'What am I running for? If Prince Zuko is here then that means something had changed right? He's still hunting for the Avatar... But why do I want to avoid him?' Noa had thought to herself, not sure why she felt like running away was doing her any good.

"Those boys said they were going to give us all some good food." She had heard one woman say, Noa had looked in the direction of the old woman. "I was really tired of eating that gruel, it was disgusting."

One woman had looked up, noticing her. "Ah, young lady." She had waved over to her and signaled for her to come over, "She's the one who helped us get an extra portion of food."

Noa had sat down on a small green blanket. "Hello." She greeted them.

"Thanks again for the food earlier. I wasn't sure how my grandchildren were supposed to share one bowl." She said, signaling to the one toddler and the other child.

"It was no big deal." She had said with a smile. "I'm sorry you had to eat that, really."

"It was better than nothing." The woman said, "Where's that handsome young fellow that was with you earlier?"

She had rose a brow, "Jet? Oh, he's going to help get us some good food." She nodded, "Something wayyyyyyy better than that crap from earlier?"

"Really?" Both women had said at the same time.

"Yeah, he calls it "liberating"." She had chuckled, "Everyone's going to eat good tonight, even the little ones."

"You must be proud to have such a kind boyfriend." The woman said, giving a toothy grin.

Noa had looked at the woman in shock and then held up her hands, "Oh, he's not my boyfriend."

"Husband?"

"No! Nononono! He and I are just friends." She had continued to shake her hands, her hands waving to dismiss the idea they had that she and Jet were in any type of romantic relationship.

"There you are." She had looked up to see Jet, who was passing around food from a green, raggedy sack. "We were worried about you."

She had smiled, "I was just checking to see if these kids were alright. I gave them my portion and I wanted to make sure they weren't still hungry." She lied.

Jet had adapted a grin, "Well, c'mon. I picked some extra picken for you since I knew you were the hungriest."

The fox had gasped, her eyes lighting up. "Really?!" She had stood, her hands clasped together. "Picken, picken, piiiiiiiicken!" She had danced, clapping her hands.

The two women had giggled, "And she says there's nothing between them." One woman had muttered.

Noa's face had flushed red, Jet chucking at the women's gossip. "C'mon, let's eat."

Nodding, she had followed him and noticed the direction he was heading. Zuko and Iroh were sitting next to one another, enjoying the food that they had "liberated".

Noa debated on running again but since Jet was at her side, it would prove to be difficult and besides, where could she run off too? Was she going to hide during the whole trip.

Both firebenders had looked upon the approaching two, their eyes wide in surprise upon seeing the girl they hadn't seen in over a week. "Noa!" Zuko was the first to stand, completely shocked.

Jet had looked at her, wondering how the three had known one another. He also wondered if they were the reason why she had been distancing herself. "Lee and, I, Mushi, have been worried sick about you."

Her doleful look at then went to confusion, "Mushi and Lee?" She repeated, unsure of why they had changed their names? It was then she figured that since they were Fire Nation, they were hiding their identities.

Her eyes had hesistantly looked to Zuko, who kept his eyes fixated on her.

"You really are... alright."

His words had taken her by surprise, her eyes slightly widening at his visible concern. "I thought you two were-"

"Things weren't exactly what they seemed and we were tricked." Iroh had said, "That's the Fire Nation for you." He tried to play it off.

Jet had nodded understandingly, "Oh..." Noa muttered, "so you you guys are going to Ba Sing Se too, huh?"

"Yeah." Zuko answered, nodding.

Jet had then grabbed Noa's arm, pulling her down to sit. She had sat beside him, Zuko upon noticing the boy's hand on the girl's arm had stared at the contact for a while before sitting back down as well. "Here." Jet had scooted the large plate of a full picken, making the girl grin. "Thanks Jet!" She had thanked him before digging her nails through the cooked skin and trying a piece. "Ohhh... I missed this so much."

Iroh had chuckled. "Noa loves to eat, especially hippo cow and picken."

"Tell me about it." Jet sighed, "That's all she whined about." They had all looked at her as she swaying her shoulders as she had chewed, seemingly in heaven. "She even imagined the fish we ate as hippo cow."

"So, you're a Freedom Fighter now?" Zuko had asked Noa, the girl opening one eye.

Jet had kept his gaze on Noa, wondering her answer to the question was as well. "Jet asked but... I don't have a definitive answer yet. Though it kinda feels like I'm already one."

Jet had smiled at her answer while Zuko sported an upside down one. "Where's Smellerbee?"

Iroh's face then flushed red, "Oh... She's talking to the quiet boy." He pointed to his left, all of them looking at the girl who was being comforted by Longshot.

"So, what are you going to do once we land?" Iroh had asked the two.

Jet had spoke rather eagerly, "From what I heard, people eat like this every night in Ba Sing Se. I can't wait to set my eyes on that giant wall. "

"It is a magnificent sight." Iroh agreed.

Jet had appeared surprised. "So you've been there before?"

"Once, when I was a different man." He averted his gaze regretfully, making Noa wonder if Iroh was in Ba Sing Se before when he was a general.

Jet had glanced around painfully as well, "I've done some things in my past that I'm not proud of. But that's why I'm going to Ba Sing Se, for a new beginning. A second chance."

"That's very noble of you. I believe people can change their lives if they want to. I believe in second chances." said Iroh, looking at his nephew as to tell him that was he said was signaled towards him. Both Jet and Noa had studied the two.

"Why are you going, Noa?" Iroh queried, wondering why Noa was heading there in the first place.

The fox had looked down at the drumstick of picken in her hand, "Well.. I was there a long time ago and I share some memories there. There's also a person I want to see."

Both Zuko and Iroh had appeared surprised. "A person you want to see?" Iroh pried.

"Yeah... He was very important to me. I loved him." Her voice was quiet, somber. "I'd like to visit him again even though, it's not like I'll be seeing him physically but as his grave."

Zuko had watched as she continued to eat, deciding not to talk any further. "So, how do you three know each other?" Jet finally asked, not letting his curiosity spin even further.

"Noa saved me in a small Earth Kingdom village." The Prince explained, "She had healed me since I was on the brink of death and then we traveled together and then, we just got separated."

The freedom fighter had looked to Noa, who remained quiet and continued to eat. "Seems like a stroke of fate brought you together again, huh?"

Iroh had looked at the three teenagers, seeing both boys gazing at the kyuubi, who kept her eyes on her food.

**o**

When the ferry had reached the shore, they had went to the ferry landing and was inside the ticket gate. Noa continued to stay beside Jet, seeing as Zuko did not particularly ask for her return even though she wasn't expecting it. Occasionally, she would glance at him either catching him staring or his eyes looking away in every direction but at her.

"I think Lee would make a good Freedom Fighter. He's just trying to find his way in the world, just like us." Jet had said, Noa looking at him. She knew this would go sour because for one, Zuko was the Fire Nation prince.

Smellerbee had then spoke up, "You don't know anything about him Jet."

The leader had taken the stalk out of his mouth, but kept it close to his lips as he spoke. "I know he didn't get that scar from a waterbender."

"Besides, I thought we were going straight now?" She questioned, Noa continuing to walk the line while keeping her eyes fixated on Zuko.

"We are," Jet shrugged, "and the new Freedom Fighters could use a guy like Lee. What do you think Longshot?" Noa wasn't expecting to hear an answer since the boy never talked. "I can respect that.

Once they cleared through the ticket gate, they had went to the train station. It was crowded, fill with groups. Noa had stood, not sitting down in the waiting area and caught Jet still trying to convince "Lee" to join the Freedom Fighters.

She watched the two boys walk off and speak, leaving her feeling uneasy. "I don't know why Jet's so adamant about it." Smellerbee had spoke up, Noa's attention now on her. "Would you feel comfortable about it?"

"I really don't know." Noa answered truthfully, "I know that Lee wouldn't join no matter how persuasive Jet is."

"I figured as much." The short girl mumbled. A ornate stone train had then arrived, amazing Noa upon sight. Her lips had parted slightly, her eyes widen as she had observed the transportation system.

"Last call for Ba Sing Se!" A man's voice had filled the waiting area.

"Wow..." She had sighed, "Things really have changed."

Smellerbee had smiled, "Yeah. C'mon, let's-"

Jet had walked over, his strides quick and his feet hitting the floor hard as he had walked past them and entered the train. "Jet?" Smellerbee had called out his name as they entered the train. They had entered the same boarding car as Zuko and Iroh, taking seats together.

"They're firebenders!" Jet muttered angrily, "I saw him heat his tea using firebending."

Noa had stiffened, Jet looking at her suspiciously. "Jet, relax! So the old guy had some hot tea. Big deal."

He heated it himself! Those guys are firebenders." He was furious and it made Noa feel uncomfortable. What was she going to do? "You knew it, didn't you?"

She had shaken her head, "I've never seen them bend anything before." She had said, her eyes looking down at her lap.

It didn't do too much to convince Jet as they had eyed Zuko and Iroh. Noa had glanced over at the Fire Nation royalty, Iroh speaking to the woman who held a baby in her arms while Zuko's arms were crossed, his expression showing his anger.

The train ride was uneasy, the atmosphere heavy and filled with tension. This was not how she was expecting her trip here and she almost wished she had left by herself. Her eyes had stayed looking out the window, occasionally listening to Jet speak his frustrations and Zuko muttering to his uncle of how careless he was. It made her wonder if this was really going to travel with them all the way to Ba Sing Se.

When the train had finally stopped, they all hopped off board and made their way out of the station and towards the outside world. The large wall of Ba Sing Se was immediately in sight, Noa drinking up the scenery since when she was here, four hundred years ago, it was nothing but a small city. It was nothing like it was today.

Turning to Jet, Smellerbee, and Longshot, she had bowed to them. "I think this is where we split us." She had said, "I don't think being a Freedom Fighter is for me. It's not my place."

Smellerbee had frowned, Longshot lowering his eyes as well. Jet, however, had an unreadable expression. "That doesn't mean we have to stop being friends."

"I was almost afraid you wouldn't want to be friends anymore." Noa honestly said, smiling. "We'll always be friends. I've enjoyed the days I've spent with you all."

It seemed his suspicions of her had lessened since he had no real evidence to prove she was a firebender. "Thank you." She had said before turning and walking to the entrance gate of the city, wondering just how she was going to go about things.

She would have to find some source of income and a place to stay. She couldn't afford to buy a place of her own. Well, finding a job would have to be first then. She had searched around the lower ring of Ba Sing Se, looking for a job that she could qualify and then she had gone to the middle ring.

A bathhouse was hiring, much to her surprise. Walking in, she was greeted by the front desk."Hello, welcome to Ba Sing Se's Heavenly Bath house." Looking down at her clothes, she realized she didn't look exactly presentable but what other choice did she have?

"Uhm, well, I see you are hiring and I was hoping that I could apply for a job here." The woman at the front desk was surprise, blinking several times. "Oh, we're hiring hostesses." The woman had left the desk and looked her over. "Hm... You've got a pretty face but you're dirty. You don't have any experience working, do ya?"

Noa had shaken her head, "No."

The woman had sighed, "Well... We really do need some more hostesses." She had hummed, looking Noa over again. "Zhiyi!" The woman had called for someone, Noa had looked around for the person she had called. Soon a girl, the same age as her, had came running down the stairs and toward them. Zhiyi was about sixteen, she had brown hair that was in a neat and tight bun and wore a green cheongsam that seemed to accentuate her petite body. The trim was made of gold and the shade of green was a jade color. "Clean this girl up and give her the run around in being a hostess. We need to hire someone before boss loses his temper so she'll have to do."

The teenage girl had nodded, still catching her breath. "Come on." She had signaled for Noa to follow, which the girl had nodded and followed after her. "You're pretty lucky to get hired right away. Usually, you have to go through this ridiculous test."

The fox had blinked twice, "A ridiculous test? What do they make you do?"

"They make you answer strange questions with impossible answers. They try to see how smart you are and how you can attract customers into become regulars, it's really crazy. But since they are in need of more hostesses, I guess they are settling for you until you mess up."

"I can't afford to lose this job." Noa had shaken her head, "It's really the only option I have left."

"Oh, are you a refugee?" The girl asked, Noa had shaken her head. "Then...?"

"I lived in Ba Sing Se before, a long time ago. But I left, and then I came back but it's been so long and since I didn't have any family..." She trailed, unsure of how to continue on.

Zhiyi had nodded understandingly. "Same with me. I'm renting this apartment, but it's getting a little out of control. It was all just to show my family that I'm capable of living on my own, but I'm not sure how long I can keep living there."

"I know we just met and I'm asking for a lot, but could I move in with you?" Zhiyi had looked at Noa in shock, "I could help pay for rent, we'll half it."

"Seriously?" The girl had said as Noa nodded. "You have a deal! You got a place to stay and my parents can't get me to come back to their house!" She had reached her hand out but then decided not to, "Let's shake on it after you've had a bath. You smell terrible."

The fox had gaped but then closed her mouth. "I know..."

**. . .**

After taking a bath, she was given her uniform. Noa was reluctantly to wear it but she eventually forced herself too. She had taking the chopstick that Zuko had given her out of her hanbok's sleeve pocket and placed in her hair due to it was customary for new hostesses to wear a bun. They were merely apprentices to the older hostesses, who had wore grander clothes and dealt with V.I.P and higher paying customers. "I really wanted to be an entertainer, but you have to work your way up." Zhiyi had said as she had taken the paint brush and placed red lipstick on Noa's lips. "Well, you're all fixed up."

She had grabbed Noa's wrist and led her towards a mirror. The fox was surprised at her reflection, able to see how the dressed had hugged her body tightly. It was embarrassing to see how high the slit was and it felt even more embarrassing to imagine Zuko seeing her in such an outfit. Just the thought made her face flush red and her head hang in shame. "So, what does a hostess do?" She had asked, knowing Zhiyi had to give her the ins and outs of the job.

"Sometimes you work in front, like Meilin that you had met. Other times, you have to take customers in and lead them towards their bath or hotel room. Sometimes, if a customer really likes you, he'll want you to sit with him and pour him drinks. Just engage in small talk, that's really it."

Nodding her head, she had followed Zhiyi out of the worker's area and down the stairs into the large first floor hall. She had showed Noa the lounging area, where people who just wanted to drink and relax or watch entertainment. Also on the floor was the kitchen area and bar.

Zhiyi had then taken her to the second floor where the springs were, directing her which side was female, male, and then joined. She even told her the private baths, which were only for people with a golden ticket.

The third floor, was the floor for the the fourth floor was the hotel rooms, and she had to signify the ranks of them as well. Luxury suites, normal suites, and then a penthouse. Noa had soaked it all in, memorizing which was what and where. "I know your legs must hurt from going up and down the stairs." Zhiyi had said, out of breath. Noa was perfectly fine, blinking twice and patting Zhiyi's back. "Or... not. I dunno how much stamina you have, but wow... Do I need that."

"Hostesses!" Noa and Zhiyi had perked up hearing Meilin's voice.

"Let's go, it's probably Takara." Noa's arm was pulled, Zhiyi dragging her to the front doors. Noa had noticed all the hostesses lining up, and she had did the same and stood next to Zhiyi.

A young man had entered the bath house, no older than seventeen. He had straight hair that had a fringe that covered his thick, neat eyebrows and ended at the back of his neck. His eyes were big yet slant and a shade of jade. He was pale but had some color, and his frame was slender.

Most of the hostesses had eyed him in awe due to them being young as well, save for a few of the older women who still had looked at him with the same eyes as the younger girls. Noa had rose a brow, unable to mask her curiosity.

As he walked down, passing each of the hostesses, he had stopped when he had noticed Noa. His eyes had scanned her from head to toe, she was still slightly bowed like everyone else but her eyes didn't leave him either.

All of then had watched as he had continued to stare before finally walking forward but stopping once again, "The girl with the sakura chopstick. She'll be my hostess."

Zhiyi had nudged Noa's side, everyone in shock at his words. Noa had looked at Zhiyi in panic, upset that she was chosen. "You have to go, follow him." Zhiyi had pushed Noa's forward, the girl pouting before following behind Takara as they had walked up the stairs to the fourth floor and to his penthouse.

A woman was already there to slide the door open for them, much to Noa's surprise as she had followed him inside and stood with her hands at her sides. "How may I serve you?"

Takara had looked over his shoulders before finally turning around, facing her. "You don't remember me?"

"Remember you?" The kyuubi had furrowed her brows in confusion, "I don't know you."

He had dug in his pockets, searching for something and pulled out what looked to be a broken staff. For some reason, she had feared it. The whole essence of it had made her take a few steps back. Takara had nodded, "So you just have her face and not her memories."

She wasn't entirely sure what he had meant by that, but she already knew that she didn't like this one bit.

"I'm not going to hurt you." He warned, "I was just testing something." She continued to eye him, unsure what he meant still. "I won't be needing anything. You can leave."

Bowing hesitantly, she had walked towards the door and watched it slide open before leaving. She had walked down the steps and towards the first floor, Zhiyi was at the bottom of the steps waiting for her. When Noa reached the last step, Zhiyi had grabbed the girl's arm, "What happened?"

"I don't know..." Noa sighed, "Something about him feels weird."

"Feels weird?" Zhiyi repeated, "He's the richest and handsomest guy in the city!"

The fox had shaken her head, "I know someone better than him. He's ten times richer and better looking." She had said, her cheeks puffed up as she had poked them, letting air seep out of her mouth.

"Really?!" Zhiyi said, surprised. "Who is he?"

She couldn't say really and so she had shaken her head, "Someone who is very faraway." Zhiyi was entirely confused and watched Noa walk ahead.

**. . .**

Work was easy for the most part.

Most of the people who wanted her time were quite kind, some were just a bit cheeky. Her shift was short since it was her first day and this was just a trial run but due to the strange boy picking her out of the rest and leaving a generous tip, they decided to let her keep the job.

Noa still couldn't figure Takara out and she wasn't sure if she ever would, but she was grateful of the money he had left her. Zhiyi, since she still hd to work, had given her directions towards her home along with a key. "Be safe!" Zhiyi warned, which Noa had nodded knowingly.

Leaving the bath house, she had sighed heavily. "...What a day."

"You seem to have adjusted." The voice had startled her as she had looked to her right to see Zuko, who was leaning on the bath house wall.

"Pri- I mean, Lee." She had quickly corrected herself. "What are you doing here? How did you know I work here?" He didn't answer her questions and just simply walked away, leaving her confused. "Lee!" She had called out his name, biting down on her bottom lip.

Why did he always turn his back on her? Lowering her gaze, she felt the urge to cry strongly. She had forced herself not to, finding it silly to cry over something she had already expected.

It was still afternoon and the sun was still shining about but sunset was growing near. Blinking back her tears, she had tried to make sure that whatever she did, she wouldn't let them fall. But they kept spilling over and over until eventually, she had carelessly began to sob.

The Prince had stopped walking, feeling soft drops of rain landing on his skin. It was a clear day, so how was there rain? He had looked over his shoulders, seeing Noa still standing where she had spotted him, her shoulder trembling.

Was she...?

She was definitely crying. He immediately walked back, wondering how he could cease her crying as the rain continued to pour. His lips remained in a rigid straight line, unable to curve upwards or even downwards. Her cheeks were tear stained mixed with the rain, her eyes overflowing with salty droplets, and the nose red and running ever so slightly, distress rather evident across her features.

Why was she crying anyway? He didn't even do anything. Was checking on her such a bad thing? Carefully, he raised his left hand and let a thumb run a line beneath one of her eyes, a sigh leaving his person.

Noa was surprised by the gentle gesture even though her tears continued to cascade, she had snaked her arms around him, pressing her face against his chest as she had continued to cry. His arms hovered over her, feeling awkward like he had many times before until he had finally placed his arms around her.

He had noticed that as soon as her crying died down, so did the rain. He had looked up at the sky, still wondering where the rain had came from. "It stopped raining..."

"When it rains on a clear day, it means I'm crying." She had muffled against him but he had heard her loud in clear. "It's called Fox Rain." She had pulled herself away from him, wiping her tears yet continued to sniffle.

Zuko had then sighed, "Why were you crying?"

Noa had looked at him briefly before averting her gaze. "I don't know." She had muttered, lying. There was no real point in telling him. "I have to go." She had quickly waved and turned to leave, now turning her back towards him.

"Noa!" He had yelled her name, she had stopped walking and waited to hear what he had to say. "Don't cry anymore."

"Huh?" Noa had said, now getting infuriated. "You're the one that's-"

"If you cry, how are people supposed to enjoy their day?" He asked, leaving her confused. "People made plans and because you're crying, you've probably ruined them. So don't cry, no matter what. But if you end up crying anyway, I'll come find you to stop you."

* * *

**Author's Note: Longest chapter yet and it doesn't even feel like it. But two chapter in one week! Booyah.**


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